August 2020, Shanghai Innovital Capital ("SHIVC"), a fund initiated by the Shanghai Municipal Government, and Activation Group Holdings Limited ("Activation Group," stock code: 9919), an HKEX listed company, announced that their respective investment platform has officially entered into an agreement to jointly establish an industry fund with a target size of RMB1 billion. The goal of the fund is to grow markets within the pan-cultural industry such as fashion, sports and entertainment, digital and creative marketing, etc., and optimize the strategic layout for branding and intellectual property operations. Previously, an investment platform of SHIVC entered into a share transfer agreement respectively with Brightly Sky Company Limited and Activation One Limited, each an existing shareholder of Activation Group, to acquire about 14.42% stake in Activation Group.
SHIVC is an innovative investment and financing platform focusing on funds in the strategic emerging fields and project investment. It was initiated by the Shanghai Municipal People Government with a goal to actively implement the "Mass Entrepreneurship and Innovation" national strategy and further promote the building of Shanghai's global influence as a technological innovation center.
Activation Group is an industry-leading integrated marketing solutions provider, focusing on providing experiential marketing, digital marketing, brand promotion, and public relations service primarily managed in Greater China. Activation Group exclusively operated two top international sports intellectual property projects, La Liga and Le Tour de France, and also operates the intellectual property projects of the Amaury Sport Organization and Stufish Production, a top UK entertainment production company.
The cooperation between SHIVC and Activation Group will contribute to the further development of China's pan-cultural industry. On the one hand, it introduces more top international intellectual properties and advanced operational models into China through investments. On the other hand, it incubates and invests in the local pan-cultural content providers, aiming to nurture a Shanghai-centered industrial group that leads the global fashion trend.
As legal counsel to SHIVC, Llinks with its extensive experience in cross-border M&A and private equity funds provided professional legal service for SHIVC's acquisition of Activation Group's shares and the two's joint establishment of the industry fund.
