Dalian Wanda Group Co Ltd, the Chinese property giant, will buy at least three more sports companies this year as it continues on its quest to become a leader in the global sports industry.

Wang Jianlin, its chairman, told Xinhua News Agency that he expects to announce a major acquisition very soon that would be "good news" for Chinese soccer, without giving further details.

In February, Wanda fought off 11 other international bidders to take over Infront Sports & Media AG, the world's most respected sports marketing company based in Zug, Switzerland, from the European private equity firm Bridgepoint in a deal worth around $1.2 billion.