Streaming service Iflix expected to list on Australian Securities Exchange
Kuala Lumpur-based video streaming service Iflix is rumoured to be looking to list on the Australian Securities Exchange.
The firm has been in touch with investment banking firms such as Goldman Sachs, UBS, Macquarie Capital, Citi and Credit Suisse, according to a report in The Australian Financial Review. Aspects under discussion included Iflix’s valuation and marketing strategy.
The valuation is expected to be over $1bn, making it a unicorn company.
When contacted by Mumbrella, an Iflix spokesperson said: “As a policy, we do not comment on speculation and rumour.”
Co-founded in 2014 by Patrick Grove and Mark Britt, iflix has positioned itself as the streaming service for emerging markets. It is currently present in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and a few markets in the Middle East.
Through the course of the last year, Iflix has doubled down on its focus on Asia. As of July 2018, Iflix claimed to have 15m subscribers.
The service expanded its offering in these markets, partnering to bring the English Premier League to Cambodia, producing films in Indonesia and launching a news channel ‘iflix News’ with regional partners like CNN, Al-Jazeera and Bernama.
Late last year though, Iflix wound down its African operation – selling its stake to its former African partner Econet. In a statement, Iflix co-founder and CEO, Mark Britt, said: “It further reinforces Iflix’s commitment to our core markets in Asia, particularly Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines which continue to grow from strength to strength.”
The firm’s last round of funding saw in August 2017 saw an infusion of $133m led by Hearst, an American diversified media company.
Market conversation would support an understanding that Iflix is on the slide not the rise. Should’ve packaged it up and sold it off by now lads.
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An Asia only streaming service with no local market presence choosing to list on the Australian exchange, not in it’s headquarted base of Maylasia? Smells heavily of a 1MDB connection somewhere.
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Iflix isn’t worth $100 let alone a billion
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So looks like they are running out of cash and try to get money from the stock exchange. Seems like they are desperate.
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There just seems no way in the current climate that iflix can price its IPO valuation even remotely close to its series D valuation of c700M (forget about the 1B unicorn floating i have seen touted here and there on the interwebs), which is not a shame in itself, IPO down-rounds are picking up lately, especially in Asia. I would be amazed if iflix manages to price its shares at or around the 300M it has raised so far. It seems current investors are pushing for an exit and are willing to take the haircut.
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