Unknown copper processing company becomes the latest Chinese company to acquire a Hollywood property.
It wasn’t a surprise when property developer Dalian Wanda Group moved into the movie business first domestically and then overseas with its US$3.5 billion acquisition of Legendary Pictures at the beginning of the year. But now Chinese companies buying Hollywood production firms takes a new twist, with copper firm, Anhui Xinke New Materials, buying Voltage Pictures for $350 million, Reuters reported.
The company is based in Wuhu, near Shanghai, and is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Anhui Xinke does not appear to have any other entertainment industry investments or other connection to the film industry. Neither Anhui Xinke nor Midnight Investments, the owner of Voltage Productions in which the Chinese company is buying an 80 percent stake, made any public statement beyond the stock exchange filing that announced the deal. The transaction is being conducted via Anhui Xinke’s Hong Kong-based investment company, Wotaiji International Media, itself a newly-established holding company.
Voltage is most notable for producing Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker, which won the Best Picture Oscar in 2008.