DCP TO CHINESE GROUP FOR $1B?

Is the sale of Dick Clark Productions to Chinese conglom the Dalian Wanda Group a done deal?

A New York Times profile of Dalian Wanda Group Chairman Wang Jianlin notes his arrival in Los Angeles over the weekend was to wrap up the purchase for a whopping $1 billion. His secondary motive is to get the major studios to film movies and TV shows at China’s Qingdao Movie Metropolis.

DCP, the jewel in Todd Boehly’s portfolio that includes far less valued The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard, would be fetching a pretty penny: When Boehly was at Guggenheim Partners, they paid $380 million in 2012 for the production company. Figures were never disclosed when Boehly formed Eldridge Industries last year to take over Guggenheim’s media properties.

He found a perfect buyer in Wang, who is quoted by the Times saying “the best companies would not sell to us.”

When Boehly hired Moelis & Co. and Goldman Sachs in June to explore a possible divestment, Reuters reported that DCP’s value would be between $500m and $1b.

Dalian Wanda intends to build a Beverly Hills office to maintain relationships with the Hollywood majors and attract them, via rebates and incentives, to film at Wanda’s new studio, scheduled to be operational in 2018.

By 2020, Wanda aims to have annual revenue of $100 billion and net profits of $10 billion. To meet those goals, they clearly won’t be buying Boehly’s other properties.