Quickflix looks to restructure Stan’s shares in business claiming it is putting off investors
Australia’s first streaming service Quickflix is trying to get rival Stan to restructure a massive share block it holds in the business, claiming it is putting off new investors as it seeks a new round of capital raising.
In 2014 Stan, owned by Nine Entertainment and Fairfax Media, bought a $1m shareholding from US cable giant HBO which also came with a series of warrants and covenants effectively blocking Quickflix from being sold without the new owners paying more than $10.5m to Stan.
Quickflix today put out a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange saying it was now looking to “restructure” Stan’s shares as it goes into yet another round of capital-raising from investors claiming they are “a significant disincentive for incoming investors”.
RELATED: Why Nine’s investment in Quickflix makes it tougher for Netflix to launch in Australia
At the end of last month Quickflix filed its latest accounts (ASX: QFX) which showed the company has just $659,000 cash on hand and had seen a 22% fall in subscriber numbers for the quarter.
On Christmas Eve it also snuck out an announcement that it had restructured $7.5m owed to major studios for licensing agreements, while last month CEO Stephen Langsford told Mumbrella the business was pivoting away from streaming to concentrate on its still profitable DVD delivery and on-demand movie businesses.
In today’s statement, Quickflix said: “In order to progress its restructure and raise new capital, Quickflix is therefore seeking to reach agreement with Stan for the immediate restructuring of the RPS.”
Quickflick’s market cap on the ASX is $2.22m.
According to the statement, Stan’s holding must also legally be recorded as a debt of $11.6m on the Quickflix books.
It adds: “Whilst Stan can only ask for redemption of the RPS (redeemable preference shares) in limited circumstances, the company will rank behind the RPS.”
Stan has been approached for comment.
Alex Hayes
Related:
- Why Nine’s investment in Quickflix makes it tougher for Netflix to launch in Australia
- Streaming wars: what impact is Stan, Presto and Netflix having on the media landscape?
- Troubled streaming player Quickflix left with $659,000 in cash after $600,000 tax break
- Quickflix issues yet more share options in deal to avoid $5m studio royalty payments
- Streaming service Quickflix raises $775,000 for ‘working capital’ in latest investment round
It feels like there is an element of schadenfreude to Mumbrella’s reporting on Quickflix. Many other Australian businesses are struggling, but not so well reported.
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kudos to the entrepreneurs not wanting to walk away, but at some point, you’ve got to admit failure. lick your wounds, and move on. no shame in it.
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Hi K,
We take no pleasure in reporting on any struggling business, but these are important stories that need to be told accurately and fully.
Quickflix also has continuous disclosure obligations under its ASX listing, which puts a lot more info out about it than most struggling companies.
Cheers,
Alex – editor, Mumbrella
How is Quickflix still even a thing currently? If it was a dog it would have been put down a long time ago.
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Stans position has absolutely no relevance for attracting investment. Of greater importance is the festering carcass of a business that was quickflix, an entity that only a retarded monkey with an innate ability to lose millions would consider tipping more cash into.
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I completely agree K. I’ve been following the streaming wars as an unbiased non investor and reading almost all the articles that go with it. I don’t think I could predict the outcome of quickflix with the absolute certainty that others seem to have. Quickflix survives and many will eat their words.
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