Rev Asia submits regularisation plan to buy iMedia Asia

The media company will buy iMedia for RM10m, which will be satisfied with the issuance of its new ordinary shares

by NUR HAZIQAH A MALEK / pic by TMR

REV Asia Bhd has submitted a regularisation plan to acquire iMedia Asia Sdn Bhd and its subsidiaries to Bursa Malaysia.

Rev Asia chairman Datuk Larry Gan (picture) said iMedia is expected to enjoy the tailwind coming from a permanent and massive digital adoption uplift in terms of business practices and consumer consumption that have been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We are extremely excited in taking the first step of working together with the team at iMedia to build a digital media leader again, not just in Malaysia, but in the region,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Rev Asia will buy iMedia for RM10 million, which will be satisfied with the issuance of new ordinary Rev Asia shares.

An additional RM30 million will be satisfied via the issuance of additional Rev Asia shares if iMedia Group’s audited net profit after tax achieves its target of RM3 million for the financial year ending 2021.

Rev Asia also intends to undertake a renounceable rights issue with attached warrants to fund the acquisitions of Goody Technologies Sdn Bhd, Nara Media Sdn Bhd and Moretify, and further working capital needs as part of the regularisation plan.

Final details of the rights issue with warrants will be available following the completion of the acquisition.

Rev Asia’s major shareholder and director Patrick Grove said the group has closed five acquisitions and multiple partnerships including with major over-the-top (OTT) platforms in the country over the past year of working with iMedia.

“We are now even more confident about the growth of the business and that it will align with the shareholders’ goals for Rev Asia to become a digital media giant,” he said.

Following the participation, iMedia will have access to the capital markets and liquidity to accelerate its acquisition and growth plans with a focus on profitability.

Its existing clients include some of the largest companies in the region and major global brands such as Shopee, Foodpanda, Huawei and McDonalds.

iMedia has also inked partnerships with OTT platforms namely Viu, Tencent Holdings Ltd-owned WeTV and iflix to expand its video advertising solutions networks.

In the past year, the group has further consolidated the digital media space in the country by acquiring Oh! Media, Goody Technologies, Nara Media and Moretify, as well as social influencer platform Ittify to extend its reach to all lanes of digital advertising space.

The space was estimated to be a RM2.1 billion market in Malaysia for 2020, according to Dentsu Aegis Network.

Rev Asia’s share price ended 15.79% or three sen higher at 22 sen yesterday, valuing the company at RM29.62 million.