China's Wanda Group buys Swiss sports marketer Infront for $1.2 billion

Chinese real estate giant Wanda Group is buying Swiss sports marketing company Infront Sports & Media for 1.05 billion euros ($1.2 billion) from a private equity group.

The acquisition announced Tuesday adds to the company's portfolio of entertainment and leisure businesses.

Wanda said owning Infront will help it support China's bids to host major sports events.

Less than a month ago, the Chinese company bought a 20 percent stake in Spanish football champion Atletico Madrid for 45 million euros.

Dalian Wanda Group is headed by billionaire founder and chairman Wang Jianlin, one of China's richest people.

The company operates dozens of hotels, shopping malls and cinemas in China.

It also owns the AMC movie theatre chain and British yacht maker Sunseeker.