華人文化入股全球最大經紀公司CAA

Creative Artists Agency, the Hollywood talent group that represents stars including Beyoncé, George Clooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, is teaming up with Chinese media mogul Li Ruigang to create a new media and entertainment venture in China.

好萊塢的創新藝人經紀公司（Creative Artists Agency，以下簡稱CAA）與中國媒體巨頭黎瑞剛達成合作，將共同在中國創建一家新的媒體和娛樂企業——CAA中國(CAA China)。CAA旗下明星包括碧昂絲(Beyoncé)、喬治?克魯尼(George Clooney)和C羅(Cristiano Ronaldo)。

CAA China will be majority owned by CAA in partnership with Mr Li’s China Media Capital. CMC will also make a small minority investment in CAA, whose majority owner is TPG, the US private equity group. Mr Li will join CAA’s board. The companies did not disclose financial details of the deal.

CAA中國將由CAA和黎瑞剛的華人文化產業投資基金（China Media Capital，以下簡稱CMC）共同所有，CAA是多數股股東。CMC還將持有CAA的少數股份，CAA的多數股份由美國私人股本集團TPG持有。黎瑞剛將加入CAA董事會。當事公司沒有披露這筆交易的財務細節。

The new venture expands on CAA’s existing operations in China, which began in 2005. The agency represents a high-profile range of Chinese stars including Zhang Yimou, one of the country’s best known directors, and Lin Chi-ling, the Taiwanese supermodel and actress. It has been involved in more than 75 Chinese-language films and has helped direct more than $400m in Chinese capital into English-language projects.

這家新合資企業是對CAA現有在華業務的擴展——CAA自2005年起在華開展業務。CAA代理了中國衆多家喻戶曉的娛樂界名人，包括中國最知名導演之一張藝謀、以及臺灣超級模特兼演員林志玲(Lin Chi-ling)。該公司還參與了逾75部華語電影，並幫助引導逾4億美元中國資本進入英語項目。

Mr Li, meanwhile, is often described as the most connected person in Chinese media. He has built a broad empire in part by teaming up with big Hollywood companies looking to enter the country’s entertainment market. CMC holds stakes in IMAX China and joint ventures with Comcast’s DreamWorks Animation and Warner Bros. He also owns 13 per cent of the Manchester City Football Club.

而黎瑞剛常被描述爲中國媒體界人脈最廣的人士。他打造了龐大的帝國，部分方式是與尋求進入中國娛樂市場的大型好萊塢公司合作。CMC持有Imax中國(Imax China)的股份，並與夢工廠動畫（DreamWorks Animation，母公司爲康卡斯特(Comcast)）和華納兄弟(Warner Bros)組建了合資企業。黎瑞剛還持有曼城足球俱樂部(Manchester City Football Club) 13%的股份。

“Getting the cultural translation right from the business point of view and in the content really requires a partnership on the ground to take it to new places,” said Jim Coulter, TPG co-founder.

TPG聯合創始人吉姆?庫爾特(Jim Coulter)表示：“要從有利於經營和適應當地環境的角度順利完成文化移植，真的需要在當地有合作伙伴，幫助引導文化移植過程。”

China’s entertainment industry has boomed in the past decade. Rising domestic demand for films, sports and other popular fare has fuelled the interest of Hollywood studios looking to reach new audiences.

中國娛樂業在過去十年蓬勃發展。中國人對電影、體育以及其他流行娛樂的需求日益增長，吸引了有意發展新觀衆的好萊塢公司的興趣。

Chinese investors have also been setting their sights on global entertainment assets. Dalian Wanda bought a controlling stake in Legendary Entertainment last year for $3.5bn, and Alibaba Pictures has inked a deal with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners to finance, produce, market and distribute films in China and around the world.

中國投資者還將目光對準了海外娛樂資產。大連萬達(Dalian Wanda)去年以35億美元收購了傳奇影業(Legendary Entertainment)的控股股權，阿里巴巴影業(Alibaba Pictures)已與史蒂芬?斯皮爾伯格(Steven Spielberg)的Amblin Partners簽署協議，在中國以及其他國家資助、製作、營銷和發行電影。

However, investors’ ambitions to build up media powerhouses have been somewhat chilled in recent months. State regulations aimed at curbing capital flight have scuppered some outbound deals, while lacklustre Chinese box-office receipts in 2016 and the first quarter of this year have raised some questions about the impact of slowing economic growth and a lack of hit films.

然而，投資者打造媒體巨頭的抱負在最近幾個月有些遭遇寒流。旨在遏制資本外逃的政府監管使得一些對外交易告吹，同時2016年和今年一季度中國票房收入低迷，也令人擔心經濟增長放緩和熱門影片匱乏帶來的影響。

“This is a moment of disruption and reshaping in the global media, entertainment, sports and brand landscape,” said Richard Lovett, CAA president. Partnering with CMC “positions us in what we think is a supercharged way to pursue growth”.

CAA總裁理查德?洛維特(Richard Lovett)表示：“這是全球媒體、娛樂、體育和品牌版圖被顛覆和重塑的時刻。”與CMC達成合作，“將我們送上了一條我們眼中超高速的追逐增長的軌道”。

Mr Li said the Chinese entertainment market is “still doing well. In the past three years we have gone through a lot of change, including technological change and the market expansion,” he added. “Going forward there is big potential.”

黎瑞剛表示，中國娛樂市場“仍然表現很好。在過去3年裏，我們經歷了許多變化，包括技術改變和市場擴張……未來發展潛力巨大”。