How it started
History
Huayi Brothers operates through a number of wholly owned and affiliated subsidiaries, including Huayi Brothers Talent Agency Co., Ltd., Huayi Brothers Film Investment Co., Ltd., Huayi Brothers Television Program Co., Ltd., Huayi Brothers Music Co., Ltd., Huayi Brothers Advertising Co., Ltd., Huayi Brothers International Distribution Co., Ltd., Huayi Vision Media Advertising Co., Ltd., Huayi Brothers Cinema Investment Co., Ltd., and Huayi Brothers Fashion & Culture Media Co., Ltd., among others. In mainland China, its principal competitors are Bona Film Group, China Film Group Corporation, Hairun Pictures, and Orange Sky Golden Harvest.
In 2008, Huayi Brothers acquired the talent agency Zhongqian Longde and the film and television production company Jinze Taihe.
In May 2011, Tencent invested RMB 450 million in Huayi Brothers, acquiring approximately 4.6 percent of the company's shares. The following month, Huayi Brothers announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Huayi International had formed a joint venture with Legendary Entertainment and other partners to establish Legendary East, a company focused on the production of English-language films. In March 2012, Huayi Brothers partnered with Now TV, Edko Films, and Peter Chan's We Pictures to launch Channel 133 in Hong Kong.
In July 2013, Huayi Brothers acquired a 50.88 percent stake in Yinhan Technology, a Chinese mobile game developer and operator, through a combination of equity and cash, valuing the company at RMB 671.61 million. From 6 to 8 June 2014, Huayi Brothers held a large-scale anniversary event in Haikou to commemorate the company's twentieth anniversary.
In 2015, Huayi Brothers announced plans to spin off its new media business and establish it as a separate internet entertainment company for independent listing. That same year, the company made several high-profile acquisitions of celebrity-affiliated companies. In November 2015, Huayi Brothers acquired a 70 percent stake in Dongyang Meila, a company founded by director Feng Xiaogang, for RMB 1.05 billion, despite the company having been established only two months earlier with minimal assets. In October 2015, Huayi Brothers also announced the acquisition of a 70 percent stake in Zhejiang Dongyang Haohan Film & Television Entertainment Co., Ltd., a company established one day earlier, valuing it at over RMB 1 billion.
From Wikipedia’s article on Huayi Brothers, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2