On May 22, the Subao Huasheng Fund, a fund jointly initiated by Suzhou Daily Group, Kaisheng Fund of Fund of Changshu New & Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone, and Meridian Capital, announced its establishment. Managed by Meridian Capital, this fund is the first private equity venture capital fund initiated and founded by newspaper group as cornerstone investor in Jiangsu Province.
As a domestically leading venture capital organization in TMT industry, Meridian Capital has consistently maintained close cooperation with a number of large media groups in China, Meridian Capital has come to notice that, media transition is a subject commonly contemplated by many traditional media groups. Against such background, in August 2014, Meridian Capital joined forces with Shanghai United Media Group and Oriza Fund of Fund to jointly initiate and set up 825 New Media Industry Fund, aiming to boost integrated development of traditional media and new media.
In today’s environment of ubiquitous connectivity, traditional media are adopting active stance to open up cooperation, and creating vertical and horizontal alliance. Suzhou Daily Group is also a trail-blazer in this trend, by setting up Subao Huasheng Fund, Suzhou Daily Group hopes to attract more social resources to take part in capital operation, explore the transition development path of traditional media, meanwhile strengthen communication and cooperation with other large media groups and listed media companies, speed up transition development in the new situation. It is worth mentioning that, this time also marks the second cooperation between Meridian Capital and Kaisheng Fund of Fund following the previous partnership between both sides in jointly kicking off an RMB fund.
Domestic media groups one after another chose to cooperate with Meridian Capital, which fully reflects their acknowledgement of Meridian Capital’s professional standing. In the recent four to five years, Meridian Capital has become investor of about 70 enterprises in sub-sectors of culture new media, and mobile internet industries. Previously Meridian Capital has set up funds or entered into project cooperation with large media groups across China including Shanghai United Media Group, Beijing Media Corporation Limited, Zhejiang Publishing, and Wuxi Radio & TV Group, it also developed partnership with industry leading listed companies such as Handsome Electronics, Inner Mongolia Junzheng, and ShengJing360.com, in combination with powerful state-owned and private fund of fund in China like Oriza Holdings, and Gopher Asset, to build a platform on industry, talent and capital levels.
On such platform, Subao Huasheng Fund will join forces with domestically leading media groups, listed companies, and capital sources to make joint investment, and arrange industry deployment. The investment directions of the fund will aim at broad-sense TMT field, specifically the investment directions will focus on mobile Internet industry, especially Internet finance, digital reading, consumption upgrading, digital marketing and enterprise service fields. As the Fund’s administrator, Meridian Capital will focus highlights, and grasp industry development trend to follow the general tide, while boosting optimization of domestic entrepreneurship environment, share the dividend of industry growth, and build Subao Huasheng Fund into one of the most professional new media investment funds in China.
