SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Hatten Land has inked a 10-year agreement with a subsidiary of Chinese media group Focus Media Information Technology to invest around eight million yuan (S$1.7 million) in an e-sports hub project.

The immersive e-sports hub will be one of the anchor tenants at Hatten Land's Element X mall in Melaka, occupying more than 90,000 sq ft of retail space, the group said in a bourse filing on Thursday (May 5).

Hatten Land expects to generate long-term rental income and operating income from the e-sports hub through entry ticket sales and other relevant income, which will be paid as rent. It will fund its investment from proceeds raised from its share placement exercise announced in April 2022.

Hatten Land - through its subsidiary Hatten Edge - will invest 70 per cent of the eight million yuan, while Focus Media Sports will invest the remaining 30 per cent.

Both entities will jointly form a management team to oversee the daily operations of the Element X project. Any remaining profits, after deducting the management team's expenses, will be distributed via a 70-30 proportion to Hatten Land and Focus Media Sports respectively.

Focus Media Sports, a subsidiary of Shenzhen-listed Focus Media, specialises in sports industry investments and operations. It has a 10-year exclusive right to manage and operate a 1.5 billion yuan sports complex in the Qingpu district of Shanghai.

The group expects the e-sports hub to "contribute positively" to its net assets and financial performance for the financial year ending June 30, 2023, barring unforeseen circumstances.

Shares of Catalist-listed Hatten Land traded 0.2 cent or 5.3 per cent higher at four cents as at 10.01am on Thursday.