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source: WChinaTimes
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| Kim Soo-hyun greets fans in Shanghai on March 23, 2014. (Photo/CFP) |
Chinese internet services giant Tencent has made an investment in KeyEast Entertainment, the celebrity management agency that represents Korean superstar Kim Soo-hyun, reports the website of Guangzhou's 21st Century Business Herald.
Details of the investment have not yet been released and Tencent has so far refused to comment on the speculation, saying only that an official announcement will be forthcoming.
The 26-year-old Kim has become the biggest Korean star in China after his leading role in the South Korean hit TV show My Love From the Star, in which he plays a suave immortal alien on Earth who falls in love with a woman played by Jun Ji-hyun, best known for the 2001 romantic comedy My Sassy Girl.
The runaway success of the series in South Korea, China and Taiwan has seen Kim's endorsement fees rise from 250 million won (US$235,000) to 350 million won (US$330,000).
Boosted by Kim's soaring popularity, KeyEast stock has risen by 25% over the past week and around 50% since the start of the month.
The largest individual shareholder of KeyEast is Bae Yong-joon, who enjoyed success similar to Kim in the early 2000s after starring in the TV drama Winter Sonata. Bae acquired a 37.5% stake in KeyEast in 2006 for 9 billion won (US$8.47 million).
Tencent has been highly active in 2014 with a series of high profile investments and diversifications. On March 26, the company announced that it had acquired a 28% stake in South Korean video game developer CJ Games for US$500 million to become its third largest shareholder.
The parent company of CJ Games, CJ E&M, last year recorded sales of 9.8 billion yuan (US$1.6 billion), a 233% year-on-year increase, and operating income of 330 million yuan (US$53 million), equating to year-on-year increases of 50%.
Earlier this month, Tencent agreed to take a 15% stake in e-commerce giant Jingdong Mall for US$214 million, also agreeing to subscribe at its IPO price for an additional 5% when the company goes public. It is believed that the move will strengthen Tencent's position in the market against chief rival Alibaba.
In January, Tencent launched an open mobile platform to attract top app developers and also invested about US$195 million in leading logistics firm China South City Holdings.
The company has, however, denied rumors that it had made a recent invested in Youku Tudou, China's biggest video streaming service.
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