Wanda Sports Group Delisted From Nasdaq

A year and half after its U.S. listing, Wanda Sports Group Co. Ltd. delisted from Nasdaq Friday. The stock never topped its first-day high and got pounded as the pandemic disrupted the sporting events on which the company depends.

Wanda Sports & Media (Hong Kong) Holdings Co. Ltd. will acquire all Class A ordinary shares of Wanda Sports and privatize it at $2.55 per American depositary share (ADS). The privatization is worth $100 million.

As a part of Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group, Wanda Sports mainly engaged in sports-related activities including event operation, media production, sponsorship, marketing and digital solutions.

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Wanda Sports' revenue in the first three quarters of 2020 fell 48% from a year earlier to 307 million euros ($371 million). The net loss was 52 million euros.

The plunge reflected pandemic-driven schedule changes including cancellation of the FIBA Basketball World Cup and postponement of the FIFA Women's World Cup. Wanda Sports hosted only three events in the third quarter of 2020, down from 45 a year earlier.

Wanda Sports was listed on Nasdaq July 26, 2019, opening $6 a share, 25% lower than the $8 issue price, and finally closing at $5.16. Before disclosing its delisting, Wanda Sports stock traded at $2.25.

The stock never topped its first-day high of $6.24, and the daily turnover rate was often less than 1%. A source from a private equity fund told Caixin that the poor performance of Wanda Sports turned off investors.

Contact editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com).

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