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Mar. 27 (NBD) -- China's Wanda Sports Group (Wanda Sports, NASDAQ: WSG) said Thursday it will sell Ironman Group to U.S. media giant Advance Publications Inc. for 730 million U.S. dollars. The all-cash deal is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2020.

Stock of Wanda Sports surged by 41.41 percent to 2.8 U.S. dollars on Thursday, but it still represents a 65 percent decline from the debut price of 8 U.S. dollars on July 26, 2019.

Ironman Group operates a global portfolio of sport events, including multiple Ironman-branded triathlon events. Wanda Sports acquired the group from U.S. PE firm Providence Equity Partners in 2015 for 650 million U.S. dollars plus the assumption of debt, which pushed the deal to 900 million U.S. in total.

Upon the completion of the deal, Wanda Sports will continue to operate Ironman Group's triathlon, marathon, and mountain bike races in China under an exclusive license agreement.

The Ironman series are among one of Wanda Sports three core components, the other two being sports marketing company Infront Sports & Media and Wanda Sports China.

According to Wanda Sports' Q3 2019 results, revenues from the Ironman races grew by 14 percent year over year to around 124 million U.S. dollars, accounting for over 46 percent of the total revenues.

Wanda Sports' CEO and president Yang Hengming said the company will "benefit from a stronger balance sheet" via the deal. The company intends to use the proceeds to repay the 230 million U.S. dollars it lent from Credit Suisse, as well as 50 million U.S. dollars outstanding under a promissory note issued to Wanda Sports & Media (Hong Kong) Holding Co. Limited. All or a majority of the rest will be used to fund dividends or share buy-backs.

Email: gaohan@nbd.com.cn