Li Ruigang, the powerful Chinese media mogul in control of TVB, plots IPO in Hong Kong, US markets for US$10 billion of assets

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Li’s media flagship CMC Inc is valued at US$6 billion based on a 2018 round of financing from investors including Alibaba, Tencent and China Vanke

His private-equity firm, backed by Singapore’s state investment firms, manages about US$4.6 billion of assets, with 10 candidates eyeing global IPOs this year

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Li Ruigang, founding chairman and CEO of Chinese media and entertainment group CMC Inc. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Peggy Sito

Published: 7:30am, 7 Apr 2021Updated: 2:10pm, 7 Apr 2021

Li Ruigang, arguably China’s most powerful media mogul, is aiming to list some of his businesses in Hong Kong and the US to compete with industry powerhouses, putting more than US$10 billion of assets under the spotlight amid fissures in US-China relations.

The 51-year old tycoon is the chairman and chief executive of CMC Inc, a Shanghai-based group founded in 2015 with multi-genre content including films, drama, games, financial media, music and sports. It also owns controlling interests in Hong Kong’s free-to-air network operator Television Broadcasts Ltd or TVB, and Shaw Brothers Holdings.

CMC raised 10 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion) in Series A fundraising in 2018 with the financial backing of investors including Tencent Holdings, Alibaba Group Holding (owner of the South China Morning Post), and real estate developer China Vanke. The funding round pegged the value of Li’s flagship company at 40 billion yuan.

“We are now considering a listing of CMC Inc in the next two years,” Li said in an interview with the Post at his office in the Cheung Kong Center in Central. “We will float our core businesses, but probably not all of the assets. After evaluating our businesses and different capital markets, it is highly likely that we will choose Hong Kong as the listing venue.”

Li Ruigang, founding chairman and CEO of CMC Inc, also runs a private equity fund backed by Singapore state investment firms. Photo: Handout

A listing plan will push Li’s media business –including a controlling stake in TVB – into the spotlight just as China starts tightening the space for public dissent and protests in the financial hub, following the imposition of a controversial national security law in June last year. Foreign news reports have also suggested China is seeking to rein in media owners.

To know more about Li’s view on TVB, see a related story from the interview here.