Earlier this month, news broke that our local streaming service, iflix was searching for a potential buyer to save it from going under. Now, industry sources are telling us that the company was recently purchased by the major Chinese brand, Tencent.
Technically speaking, iflix has supposedly been purchased by Ren Feng Media Tech Inc., which happens to be the mobile app arm of its parent company, Tencent Holdings. As a point of confirmation, a quick search of the iflix app on both Google Play and iOS reveal shows that the listed parent company’s name has been change to Ren Feng Media Tech Inc.
It’s no secret that iflix has struggled to stay afloat for the last few years. In 2018, the company reported a net loss of US$158.1 million (~RM675 million), followed by a negative working capital of US$77.7 million (~RM331 million) later in 2019. In order to stay solvent, the company had also managed to raise capital from several multinational companies.
In the case of Tencent, the acquisition of iflix may prove beneficial to the Chinese conglomerate. As it now provides them with a local platform to stream content that would otherwise be limited to the Chinese market.
