Today, Alibaba Pictures Group Co., LTD. (hereinafter referred to as "Ali Pictures"), a subsidiary of Alibaba Group Entertainment Group, announced that the company signed a share purchase agreement with Alibaba Investment Co., LTD., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alibaba Group Holding Co., LTD.Alibaba Pictures will conditionally acquire all of Pony Media Holdings Inc., which operates the "Damai" brand (the "Target Company").

According to the announcement,The total consideration for the transaction is $167 million (about 1.218 billion yuan).Alibaba Pictures will issue 2.513 billion ordinary shares to Alibaba Investment Company Limited at the issue price of HK $0.52 per share upon closing.

As of the announcement date, Alibaba Group held approximately 50% of the shares of Ali Pictures, and it is expected that upon completion of the additional share offering, Alibaba's combined shareholding in Ali Pictures will increase to approximately 54.3%, which is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2023.

According to the announcement, the Target Company (and its subsidiaries) is a leading provider of live performances in China, covering concerts, music festivals, live performances, theatre, sporting events and exhibitions through the "Damai" brand.

The target company's business covers the whole chain of live performances, including performance production, hosting, promotion and ticketing, etc. Currently, it has served 1.8 million performances and has more than 100 million registered users.

According to officials,It will further build the brand awareness of its offline entertainment business by expanding the "Damai" brand's upstream influence in the live entertainment industry value chain such as event hosting and promotion, venue operation and artist management.