(CRIENGLISH.com)
Updated: 2007-11-02 10:27

Chengtian Entertainment, China's entertainment giant, has reached an agreement with Golden Harvest, a leading Hong Kong film and entertainment legend, in buying the latter's about 25 percent stocks, by which Chengtian has become the biggest shareholder of Golden Harvest, according to CRIENGLISH.com today.

In the agreement reached with Raymond Chow, Chairman of Golden Harvest, China's web portal sina.com says Chengtian Entertainment pays over HK$200 million, or about $26 million for a 24.78 percent of Golden Harvest's stocks and bonds from Chow and his daughters.

Apart from Chengtian Entertainment, other existing shareholders of Golden Harvest include HK billionaire Li Ka-shing with 17 percent, EMI and Norman Cheng Tung-hon with 12 percent and Jackie Chan with 5 percent.

Chengtian's founder and Chairman Wu Kebo will serve as the chairman of Golden Harvest.

"Golden Harvest's experience and its platform in Asian film market can help Chengtian to gain new heights in movie productions. In the future, we hope to shoot no less than 20 films each year," Wu Kebo said.

Found by Raymond Chow, Leonard Ho and Leung Fung in 1970, Golden Harvest has been the forerunner and cornerstone of Hong Kong's entertainment industry, bringing Kung Fu films to the world and making international superstars such as Bruce Li and Jackie Chan.

Chengtian Entertainment, partly backed by Japan's Avex, has been actively exploring the market since its founding in 2004 and has emerged as one of the top showbiz powers on the Chinese mainland. Its business scope covers talent agent and production of films, TV series, music and music dramas.