Deal focus: Yao takes the fight to China

Kickboxing champions Gabriel Varga and Rico Verhoeven have both proved popular draws with Chinese crowds: Varga was victorious in one of the headline bouts in a tournament held in Hainan in January, while Verhoeven tasted defeat in Nanjing last year. The events were staged by local promoters Wu Lin Feng (WLF) and Kulun Fight, respectively.

Varga and Verhoeven both currently hold titles under the Glory World Series, regarded by many as the world's leading kickboxing organization. Monetizing these and other fighters in China is high on the agenda for parent company Glory Sports International (GSI) following its Series B round of funding. The round was led by Yao Capital, a sport-focused PE firm co-founded by former Chinese basketball star Yao Ming, and global cable TV giant Liberty Global. The deal also includes a joint venture that will promote the sport in China, with additional capital provided by Yao Capital and GSI.

David Han, CEO and managing partner at Yao Capital - and before that CIO at Wanda Group and managing director at The Carlyle Group - believes that kickboxing can be more successful in China than mixed martial arts because its stand-and-deliver style is closer to traditional Chinese kung-fu.

"In the Chinese tradition, when you kick somebody to the ground, you win. But if you jump on the other fighter and wrestle him on the ground [as seen in MMA], that's not a martial art," he says. "Also, MMA is controversial, because it's more violent and it's banned in certain countries."

Founded in 2012, Glory's kickboxing events have been broadcast in 160 countries. The company itself has hosted 36 events in 12 countries, with men's and women's rosters totaling 130 athletes across seven weight classes. Although Glory is based in Singapore, it has yet to organize any event in Asia. Part of the new funding will be used to increase its live event presence to 18 dates in 2017, including an expansion into Southeast Asia and Latin America, and the launch of a reality television business.

Meanwhile, the China JV is expected to receive additional local funding through Yao Capital's LP network. "We will marry Glory's brand with our Chinese partners. So we won't start the JV from the scratch, but it will start from a very high level of partnership," Han says. Investors in the PE firm's RMB2 billion ($300 million) debut fund include the Tsinghua University endowment, local internet companies such as Le Sports and Weiying, and some A-share listed companies such as theme park developer Songcheng.

Han hopes to grow Glory into a kickboxing equivalent of UFC, the world's leading organizer for MMA events. That business was acquired by US-based talent and event management firm WME-IMG for $4 billion last month; this followed WME-IMG forming a JV with a Chinese consortium led by Sequoia Capital and Tencent Holdings to develop sports and entertainment business in China.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Media
• Consumer
• Expansion
• China
• Southeast Asia
• TMT
• Growth capital