THE Chinese conglomerate behind LeTV is considering at least 15 deals after hiring former Bank of America Corp. dealmaker Winston Cheng to lead acquisitions and help expansion in the United States and Southeast Asia.

    Le Holdings (Beijing) Co., which controls LeTV businesses spanning smartphones and a sports website seeking a US$3 billion valuation, is in talks with some targets and considering fundraising, said Cheng, head of corporate finance. It’s also considering incentives to retain staff.

    Cheng’s arrival in August is part of efforts to adopt practices in line with global technology firms to help its expansion outside China after parts of its business gained backing from outside investors, including billionaire Jack Ma. That will partly come about through the recruitment of more Wall Street bankers, lawyers and auditors to beef up its investment team of 28 people, Cheng said in an interview.

    One of the former technology investment banker’s more pressing tasks is to come up with ways to bankroll the seven business units of the company that also includes electric cars.

    “For my responsibilities, a lot of it will be how we most efficiently find the financing to fuel our growth,” he said. “We need to expand and build our team, especially since we have international aspirations.”

    Less than a year ago, Beijing-based Le Holdings was under a spotlight when State-owned media said the subject of a corruption probe had indirectly invested in the company.

    While that report raised a red flag for Cheng, he put aside his reservations and decided to take on the challenge of working on a broader range of projects.

    “That part was definitely taken into consideration,” Cheng said. “My assessment is that, did these guys create something out of their own ideas and hard work? The answer is yes.”

    The company and Cheng both declined to comment further on the media report.

    Cheng follows several other bankers who’ve jumped ship for Chinese startups.

    Jean Liu, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. managing director, joined Chinese taxi hailing application Didi Taxi. Shou Zi Chew, who was a partner at Russian investment firm DST, joined Xiaomi Corp. as chief financial officer. Alex Yao, JP Morgan Chase & Co.’s China Internet research head, joined Cheetah Mobile Inc. as head of mergers and acquisitions.

    LeTV is competing with other Chinese Internet companies not just in a race for talent, but also capital.

    Its sports unit announced in July that it was trying to raise US$500 million in funds for acquisitions and expansion at a valuation of US$3 billion. That was after it had already attracted funding from Ma’s Yunfeng Capital and Prometheus Capital, backed by the son of China’s richest man Wang Jianlin.

    Hiring employees is one thing; keeping them is another. The company envisions a share-based compensation structure that will allocate stock options at both the group and unit level to ensure that employees are fully motivated.

    Originally known for publicly traded online video business Leshi Information and Technology Co. Ltd., LeTV expanded into smartphone and TV manufacturing.

    It’s even set up a research center in the United States to spearhead electric car development, and is also building a sporting-event management business.

    “They’ve reached a point where they are trying to get more help, particularly as they are trying to go international,” Cheng said. “They’re trying to grow so many more businesses.”(SD-Agencies)