Conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group agreed on Friday to lead a RMB 6bn ($966m) funding round for China-based online travel guide LY.com
Wanda will provide $577m of the funding, with the rest to be supplied by investors including internet company Tencent and fund manager Citic Capital. The round reportedly valued LY.com at about $2.1bn, according to the Wall Street Journal.
LY.com provides an online service that highlights and sells tickets to sites of local interest in areas across China. It is currently the third largest online travel service in the country by market share, after Ctrip and eLong, according to consultancy iResearch.
Ctrip is also an investor in LY.com, having invested $200m in the company in April 2014 and was LY.com’s largest external shareholder prior to the latest round. LY.com is reportedly looking to launch an initial public offering in the near future.
Wanda, which generates most of its money through property-related ventures, made the investment at the same time as it seeks to improve attendance at the 12 Chinese theme parks it operates. It intends to build another eight major sites in a bid to become the world’s largest tourism venue owner by 2020.