Orient Hontai Capital has obtained all the regulatory and administrative authorizations required for the acquisition of 53.5% of Imagina Media Audiovisual, according to the latter company. The rest of the stock is in the hands of WPP (22.5%) and the founding partners of the group, Tatxo Benet and Jaume Roures, at 12% each. 

The agreement values the company at 1.9 billion euros. It was signed in February this year and was pending the authorizations. Benet and Roures will stay on to head up the group, which has 50 centers in 32 countries on five continents, employs 6,500 professionals and in 2017 had a turnover of 1,649 million, with an EBITDA of 189 million euros. 

Audiovisual rights
Imagina is the full or partial producer of thirteen soccer leagues and provides services for other soccer competitions such as the Champions League and the Europa League. It also has a powerful content division, where it collaborates on projects with HBO, Netflix, Amazon, Turner, Fox and DirecTV. It has also been awarded rights including the following: the rights to the UEFA Champions League for the next three seasons, the exploitation in public establishments of the rights to the Spanish league, the rights to the French league and the commercial exploitation of the international rights to the Spanish league.

The entry of Orient Hontai Capital into the shareholding structure will allow Imagina to export its audiovisual production technology to China. According to the company, it also opens up new prospects for cooperation between China, Spain and Latin America in matters such as audiovisual technology, content production and cultural and sporting exchanges.