VSPN Acquires Banana Gaming & Media, Names Sicong Wang as Vice Chairman of Strategy Committee
China’s biggest esports company Versus Programming Network (VSPN) announced Friday that the company has completed its acquisition of Chinese production company Banana Gaming & Media.
Finanacial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
SEE ALSO: Chinese Esports Company VSPN Secures $100M Series B Funding Round, Led by Tencent Holdings
According to the announcement, Banana Gaming & Media will serve as an independent subsidiary of the group, and Sicong Wang, the founder of the company, will serve as Vice Chairman of the group’s strategy committee. Wang is the only son of Dalian Wanda Group founder Jianlin Wang.
As one of the three domains of Wang’s esports blueprint since 2011, Banana Gaming & Media is one of the biggest esports production companies in China. In 2018, the company hosted the PUBG annual esports event, PUBG Global Invitational (PGI), in Berlin, Germany. The other two domains founded by Wang were esports organization Invictus Gaming and live streaming platform Panda TV. Though Wang’s Panda TV went bankrupt in 2018, his IG has been recognized as one of the most successful esports organizations of all time, as the only organization in the world to win both Dota 2’s The International in 2012, and League of Legends World Championship in 2018.
Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Shanghai, VSPN is a pioneer esports solution company focused on tournament organization and content creation. In addition to its core esports business, VSPN owns and operates branded esports venues in Chengdu, Xi’an, Shanghai, and Seoul.
In October 2020, VSPN raised close to $100 million in a Series B financing round led by Tencent Holdings. Further participating investors in the round include Tiantu Capital, SIG (Susquehanna International Group), and Kuaishou.
Alongside its tournament hosting business, Banana Gaming & Media also has its own esports streamer and shoutcasters. With support from Tencent and Kuaishou, in some ways, VSPN also expanded its Multi-Channel Network (MCN) matrix through the acquisition.
