Alibaba stakes $383m on prodco

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has made its latest expansion into TV by investing in the Beijing-based production outfit behind local versions of The X Factor and Don’t Stop Me Now.

The firm has made a ¥2.4bn (US$383m) investment in Beijing Enlight Media, which equates to around an 8% stake in the company.

The prodco is behind the Chinese version of Italian signing format Io Canto for Liaoning TV, which also aired Enlight’s version of FremantleMedia’s X Factor, while Anhui TV broadcast fellow Fremantle format Don’t Stop Me Now.

Enlight has also produced Clash of the Choirs for state broadcaster CCTV and feature films including Lost in Thailand.

The stake, revealed in a filing to the Shenzhen stock market, was bought by Hangzhou Ali Venture Capital, Alibaba’s investment arm, and is the company’s latest move into entertainment.

Alibaba has invested more than $3.1bn in entertainment-focused interests over the past 12 months as it seeks to diversify away from its physical product sales.

Founder Jack Ma met with US studio bosses last year following the company’s $22bn stock offering, and in August the firm took a $1.2bn stake in video website Youku Tudou. Earlier in June, Alibaba acquired a 59.6% stake in ChinaVision Media Group, while it has also agreed a content deal with SMG’s Dragon TV.

Enlight’s shares rose by 10% upon news of the deal, the maximum allowed according to the exchange, giving the prodco a value of ¥33.5bn.