The Wall Street Journal-20080115-NBA Names Investors In China Venture- New League Is Possible
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NBA Names Investors In China Venture; New League Is Possible
The National Basketball Association announced the names of the Chinese companies that will take a minority stake in its China venture, which could include a new basketball league.
The investors, who will collectively own 6% of NBA China, include the Li Ka-Shing foundation (Mr. Li, the Hong Kong tycoon, is Asia's richest man); Bank of China Group Investment Ltd.; Legend Holdings Ltd., the parent company of computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd.; and China Merchants Investments, whose largest shareholder is the China Merchants Group conglomerate.
NBA China will oversee all of the NBA's businesses in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. The highest-profile piece is a basketball league NBA executives hope to launch after this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing. It also plans to develop basketball arenas throughout the country and a slew of marketing, licensing and media partnerships.
NBA China will be governed by a board of directors that includes NBA commissioner David Stern, as well as other NBA executives and American team owners. Its chief executive is Tim Chen, a former chief executive of Microsoft Greater China.
This marks the first time the NBA has taken outside investors. In addition to the Chinese investors, ESPN Inc., which is largely owned by Walt Disney Co., will take a 5% stake in the league, which has an initial valuation of $2.3 billion. The NBA will own the remaining 89%.
