Wanda's $1 billion deal to buy Hollywood's Dick Clark scrapped

[March 11, 2017]  (Reuters) - Eldridge Industries, the U.S. owner of Dick Clark Productions Inc, said on Friday that one of its affiliates terminated an agreement to sell off the TV production company to Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group.

A sign of Dalian Wanda Group in China glows during an event announcing strategic partnership between Wanda Group and FIFA in Beijing, China March 21, 2016. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj/File Photo

Eldridge, which also owns magazines such as the Billboard and the Hollywood Reporter, said the affiliate terminated the agreement after Wanda failed to honor contractual obligations.

In February, Reuters reported that Dalian Wanda's proposed $1 billion purchase of Dick Clark Productions was under pressure but not yet over, amid high U.S.-China tensions and tight scrutiny by Beijing on outbound deals.

Dalian Wanda, in November, had agreed to a takeover of Dick Clark Productions, the company that runs the Golden Globe awards and Miss America pageants, extending the Chinese property-to-entertainment conglomerate's buying spree in Hollywood.

Wanda, run by China's richest man Wang Jianlin, already owns Legendary Entertainment, co-producer of films such as "Jurassic World", and U.S. cinema chain AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc <AMC.N>.

(Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

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