大連萬達收購搖滾馬拉松母公司

Dalian Wanda, the Chinese real estate conglomerate that has spent billions of dollars to command a prominent position in the entertainment industry, is aggressively establishing a beachhead in sports, too.

爲了在娛樂業佔據突出地位，中國房地產集團大連萬達已經花了數十億美元。現在，該集團又在體育業大舉建立灘頭陣地。

The company, owned by Wang Jianlin, one of China’s richest people, has added the Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon series to its leisure and lifestyle portfolio by acquiring Competitor Group Inc. and transforming the American-based Ironman company into one of the largest endurance sports organizations in the world.

通過收購競爭者集團(Competitor Group Inc.)，並將總部設在美國的鐵人公司(Ironman)變成全球最大的耐力運動機構，由中國頂級富豪之一王健林領導的萬達，把搖滾馬拉松(Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon)系列納入了自己的休閒和生活方式資產組合。

Since Dalian Wanda bought Ironman in 2015 for $650 million, the company has been on a buying spree in outdoor sports like marathons, road cycling and mountain bike races. The Wanda Sports arm of Dalian Wanda already owns or operates more than 20 running races worldwide, including the Singapore Marathon, the Auckland Marathon and Marathon Bordeaux.

自2015年以6.5億美元（約合44億元人民幣）的價格收購鐵人以來，大連萬達在馬拉松、公路自行車和山地自行車比賽等戶外運動項目中掀起了收購熱潮。大連萬達旗下的萬達體育已擁有或運營着全球20多項跑步賽事，包括新加坡馬拉松、奧克蘭馬拉松和波爾多馬拉松。

Dalian Wanda also owns part of Atlético Madrid, one of the leading Spanish soccer teams.

大連萬達還擁有西班牙頂級足球隊之一馬德里競技(Atlético Madrid)的部分股份。

The Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon series brings a festive, block-party vibe to competitive running and attracts more than 600,000 athletes a year in eight international races and 22 major markets in the United States.

搖滾馬拉松系列爲賽跑帶來一種節日的、街頭派對的氛圍，每年在八項國際賽事和美國的22個重要市場吸引60多萬名選手。

“This is an important step in the growth Ironman has seen over the last decade,” said Andrew Messick, Ironman’s chief executive. “As a globally recognized endurance brand, the acquisition of the world’s largest running platform puts us in an exciting position for the future growth of running worldwide.”

“在鐵人過去十年經歷的增長中，這是重要的一步，”鐵人的首席執行官安德魯·梅西克(Andrew Messick)說。“作爲一個全球認可的耐力品牌，收購全世界最大的跑步平臺讓我們站上了一個令人興奮的位置，迎接未來全球跑步運動的發展。”

Beginning in 1978 with a triathlon in Hawaii with 15 starters that was won by a taxi driver, Ironman now hosts more than 200 events in 50 countries for more than 400,000 athletes. In recent years, the company has moved into road cycling events, mountain bike races and marathons.

從1978年夏威夷的一場只有15名選手參加，最終被一名出租車司機拔得頭籌的三項全能比賽開始，鐵人公司現在是50個國家的200多項賽事的主辦方，服務的選手超過40萬。近年來，該公司還進軍公路自行車賽事、山地自行車比賽和馬拉松。

In 2012, Calera Capital bought Competitor Group Inc. and at the time valued the company at nearly $250 million. Messick declined to say how much Ironman paid for the company.

2012年，凱萊拉資本(Calera Capital)收購競爭者集團，對後者的估價接近2.5億美元。梅西克拒絕透露鐵人此次收購它的價格。

In recent years a surge of acquisitions has made Dalian Wanda the world’s biggest owner of movie theaters, with complexes across the United States, Europe and Australia. In January 2016 it bought Legendary Entertainment for $3.5 billion.

近年來，急劇增加的收購舉動讓大連萬達成了全球最大的影院擁有者，院線遍佈美國、歐洲和澳大利亞。2016年1月，萬達出資35億美元收購傳奇影業(Legendary Entertainment)。

With a population of 1.3 billion people and a rising middle class with an unquenchable thirst for sports, China is a “spectacular” untapped market, Messick said. In 2016, the company held its first two Ironman 70.3 races in China — in Hefei and Xiamen. Last August, the company announced the addition of three Ironman 70.3 triathlons in China in 2017 — Ironman 70.3 Liuzhou, which has already taken place, Ironman 70.3 Qujing, recently rescheduled for Aug. 27, and Ironman 70.3 Chongqing, which is scheduled for Sept. 24.

梅西克說，有13億人口並且對體育運動渴望強烈的中產階級規模越來越大的中國，是一個有待開發的“驚人”市場。2016年，該公司開始在中國——分別是在合肥和廈門——舉辦鐵人70.3比賽。去年8月，該公司宣佈2017年將在中國增加三場比賽，分別是已經結束的柳州站、最近把時間改至8月27日的曲靖站和定於9月24日舉行的重慶站比賽。

“We are being ambitious and aggressive to help grow a mass participation sport in China,” Messick said. “We are bullish on the continued emergence of the Chinese consumer. We are convinced that as average income continues to rise and more people move into the middle class, there will be more attention paid to health and recreation.”

“我們正在滿懷希望地大力幫助在中國發展一項大衆參與運動，”梅西克說。“我們對中國消費者會不斷涌現持樂觀態度。我們相信隨着平均收入繼續增加，更多人進入中產階級，人們會更加關注健康和娛樂。”