CMB International Capital Management, a unit of China Merchants Bank, has led a series C round in Shanghai Star48 Culture & Media Group, which is behind the immensely popular Chinese pop girl group SNH48.
Financial details were not disclosed but the deal was reportedly worth hundreds of millions of RMB. Existing investors CMC Capital Partners and Legend Capital also participated in the round.
"Star48 has an enormous amount of fans that regularly interact with them. They have developed into a mature business model," said CMB International Group in a statement. "CMB International thinks highly of the business model, and this deal will be an important part of our investments in the culture and entertainment industry."
The SNH48 group features dozens of female members around the age of 20 and is modeled after Japanese pop group AKB48. They perform regularly and interact with fans via offline and online events.
Founded in 2010, Star48 currently represents over 300 entertainers, and has expanded its business in areas including movies and TV dramas production, TV shows and animated games.
The company previously raised a series A round worth tens of millions of RMB from Sinovation Ventures in 2014. A year later, it completed an undisclosed series B round from Legend Capital and Sinovation Ventures.