Singapore based ONE Championship, a leading promoter of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) in Asia announced that it received an “eight figure” investment from Heliconia Capital Management Pte. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore’s state fund Temasek Holdings.
This investment marks Heliconia’s debut in the realm of sports, with its deal generally focussed on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). ONE Championship plans to penetrate into Asian Market and plans to nearly double the number of live MMA events across the continent from 11 in 2015.
My team and I are fully committed to building a global business with strong ethics and values such as integrity, respect, humility, courage and inspiration. As Asia’s largest sports media property and the 2nd largest MMA organization in the world, ONE Championship will benefit significantly from Heliconia’s ecosystem, network, and resources.
said Chatri Sityodtong, Founder and Chairman of ONE Championship.
In less than five years, ONE Championship has become a global brand with its viewers spanning across 118 countries. The news comes just a day after Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) sale for around $4 billion led by a U.S. based agency WME-IMG. ONE Championship’s global market presence is comparatively less than UFC but it is focussing mainly in Asia. ONE has held six events in China on the mainland, and wants to increase the number to a huge extent now that it has Heliconia’s support.
Derek Lau, CEO of Heliconia Capital Management stated,
We believe ONE Championship can potentially be the next big thing for consumers in Asia. They have the right product for Asia, they understand Asia and know how to monetise the value proposition in various ways in the New Economy.
Temasek Holdings, the Singapore’s state fund invests in ONE Championship shortly after the news of its portfolio decline in seven years surfaced. The portfolio value amounted to $242 billion, falling down by 9.02% from last financial year.
