The ongoing financial troubles of HNA Group won’t affect operations of Ingram Micro Inc., the company told the Business Journal.
Ingram was acquired in late 2016 for $6 billion by Chinese conglomerate Tianjin Tianhai Investment Co., a unit of HNA, a Hainan-based Fortune Global 500 company with major operations in aviation, tourism and logistics.
“Ingram Micro maintains independent financial strength, and any financial issues HNA could have do not impact our financial strength,” an Ingram Micro spokesperson told the Business Journal.
That’s due primarily to the strong financial and regulatory framework that separates the companies, the spokesperson said, citing parameters outlined by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., an influential Treasury Department body that reviews some foreign transactions involving U.S. companies.
Privately held HNA has run into a cash crunch and mounting debt fueled by $50 billion spent on acquisitions during the past few years. The company has suspended equity trading on a few of its major business units as it sells real estate and other assets to improve its financial position.
The New York Times recently reported that HNA sent various emails to employees, informing them of escalating returns if they handed the company back some of their paychecks.
There’s been no evidence employees of Ingram Micro, a stand-alone unit, received the emails.
At the close of the third quarter, the world’s largest distributor of technology products was on pace to beat 2016 performance, posting revenue of $42 billion and net income of $100 million.
The company posted sales through the first nine months of last year of $32.8 billion, up 10.7% year-over-year, and net income of $143.3 million, up 6.1%.
Its fourth-quarter and year-end financials will be released this month.
Esports Bonanza
Blizzard Entertainment Inc.’s Overwatch League is off to a rousing start.
The esports league based on its hit first-person shooter game drew more than 10 million viewers on digital channels alone on opening weekend last month, according to the company. Opening day, Jan. 10, drew an average audience of 408,000 per minute, which is how audience numbers are calculated in the genre.
“This is the future of pro sports,” Kent Wakeford, co-owner of the Seoul Dynasty franchise, told the Business Journal.
Matches were streamed via Twitch, Major League Gaming, and Chinese streaming partners ZhanQi TV, NetEase CC, and Panda TV.
Twitch.tv, the world’s largest livestreaming site for gaming content, with more than 100 million monthly visitors, paid Blizzard more than $90 million to broadcast league matches for two years, according to Sports Business Daily. Twitch games are broadcast in English, Korean and French.
Blizzard’s Santa Monica parent, Activision Blizzard Inc., bought Major League Gaming in 2016 for an estimated $40 million to help it build such ventures.
Overwatch League has 12 teams in Los Angeles, Boston, London, Miami-Orlando, New York, San Francisco, Seoul and Shanghai.
Franchises were sold for an estimated $20 million each.
The league has attracted several notable sponsors, including HP, Intel, Toyota, T-Mobile and Sour Patch Kids candy.
“Overwatch” a futuristic multiplayer shooting game, has more 35 million subscribers, surpassing $1 billion in sales for Blizzard since its May 2016 launch.
AI Buy
Veritone Inc., the up-and-down Costa Mesa company seeking to break through the booming artificial intelligence market, has acquired advanced data analytics software and related IP from Atigeo Corp.
Financial details of the agreement with the Bellevue, Wash.-based company were undisclosed.
The buy includes software that enables queries within huge bodies of unstructured data that will be included in Veritone’s aiWARE product, according to Chief Executive Chad Steelberg.
Veritone also gains 60 issued and pending patents in the U.S. and other countries covering various aspects of Atigeo’s data-science technology, as well as several established data scientists and software engineers.
Shares of the company, which raised $37.5 million in a May initial public offering, have jumped and crashed widely since the IPO, peaking at $74.92 in late September.
Shares were trading at $15.80, as of Feb. 6, or roughly a $254 million market cap.
