Western investors have long been beguiled by the sheer size of the Chinese market. But the reality has often failed to match their visions — just take the entertainment industry in China.
The quest to combine the best of Hollywood magic with Chinese audiences has been playing out for some time now, with mixed results. Over the next year, investors are likely to be pitched a new wave of young companies wanting to go public and promising to succeed where others have failed.
In a few months, STX, the second-tier Hollywood studio whose backers include Beijing-based Hony Capital, is expected to list its shares in Hong Kong. If all goes to plan, Open Road, another smaller Hollywood studio, will follow suit with an initial public offering in Hong Kong in 2019. Open Road was bought late last year by Tang Media Partners, which is based in Shanghai and Los Angeles, and counts, China Media Group; Tencent Holdings; and Neil Shen, founder of Sequoia Capital China, as investors.