On 3 July 2018, King & Wood Mallesons advised CMC Inc. (formerly named CMC Holdings) on the closing of its approximately RMB10 billion series A round financing. The completion in the latest round of the financing gives CMC Inc. a valuation of nearly RMB40 billion. The financing was led by a new investor China Vanke Co., Ltd. and two founding investors – Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings Limited. Other investors included CMB International Capital Corporation Limited and a number of international financial institutions. The successful completion of this high-profile transaction marks one of the most significant financings in China's entertainment industry in the first half of 2018.
Established in 2015, CMC Inc. is a leading media and entertainment group in China. Over the last three years, CMC Inc. has brought together a series of top content creators, enabling the company to gain competitive advantage in niche and specialised areas. It has also explored and nurtured the development of online media platforms and live entertainment groups, creating a unique ecosystem and a value-added resource in the entertainment industry. CMC was officially launched in 2015 by Mr. Li Ruigang, and the founding investors of the company included entities related to Alibaba, Tencent, and Oriza Holdings.
In this transaction, KWM advised for CMC Inc. on the laws of the PRC and Hong Kong SAR and was responsible for setting up the onshore and offshore investment and financing platforms, preparing the employee incentive plans, and advising on various restructuring of the financings and onshore and offshore structures. We also represented CMC Inc. in multiple rounds of negotiations with its investors on the documentation; led the drafting and revisions of all offshore and onshore documentations in both English and Chinese;and assisted CMC Inc. and its investors with the closing. Our exceptional cross-jurisdictional capability was exemplified by the KWM cross-border Mainland China and Hong Kong team who worked seamlessly to provide a premier one-stop-shop service covering cross-border private equity financing, TMT sector and commercial compliance to ensure the successful closing of this transaction. Led by partner Helena Huang, this deal marks another example in leveraging the global KWM network and its resources to best serve our clients.
