moodboard/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Your favorite award shows and the New Year’s Eve countdown show just got a little more Wanda-ful.
That’s because the Dalian Wanda Group, a major Chinese conglomerate, is paying $1 billion to buy Dick Clark Productions.
The takeover, which is not yet complete, sees Dalian Wanda take ownership of the firm behind productions like the Billboard Music Awards, the American Music Awards, the Academy of Country Music Awards and the famous ball-drop program on New Year’s Eve.
In announcing the deal to buy Dick Clark Productions, Dalian Wanda said that the production company’s “management will remain in its entirety,” and said it expected “DCP’s revenue and profit will show strong increases year by year.”
At the helm of the company is its namesake chairman, Wang Jianlin, believed to be among the richest — if not the richest — men in China.
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