iMedia, Malaysia’s leading integrated digital media solutions provider, has signed a transaction agreement to acquire up to 80% of the equity interest in Headline Media Sdn Bhd (“Headline Media”). The acquisition will further strengthen iMedia’s digital media ecosystem and expand its presence in Malaysia, especially in the English-speaking community. Previously, iMedia had been announced to be acquired by Catcha Digital Berhad (KLSE: CATCHA).
The acquisition is expected to contribute significantly to iMedia’s pre-tax profit in 2023, which is expected to reach RM11 million.
Co-founded by Rydah Tan, Chan Jin Wen, Dylan Tan, Esther Lee and Sarah Yeoh in 2020, Headline Media owns and operates four leading digital media brands, with the flagship brand WeirdKaya (weirdkaya.com). WeirdKaya is one of Malaysia’s fastest-growing English-language social news sites, with a total monthly reach across all social media platforms of over 6 million. Headline Media’s other brands include LokLokWords (loklokwords.com) – Malaysia’s largest content platform for Chinese independent school students, EzLokal Food – a Malay-based life and food review platform, and OnlyFood KL – Malaysia’s No. 1 A data-driven honest food review platform.
iMedia has also signed an exclusive sales representative agreement and will be responsible for accelerating revenue for four of Headline Media’s brands. In addition, the company’s social media properties will be fully integrated into iMedia’s ecosystem as part of the acquisition.
The acquisition aligns with iMedia’s growth strategy, focusing on M&A and operational improvements to strengthen its digital media portfolio. With the addition of Headline Media, the iMedia-owned and managed network of brands will reach more than 13.2 million monthly users.
Rydah Tan, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Headline Media, said: “We see this partnership as a mutually beneficial arrangement as we can leverage each other’s strengths to maximize the benefits for our clients and readers. It is a great pleasure to join iMedia to jointly build Southeast Asia’s No. 1 integrated digital media solutions group. iMedia’s sales and content expertise in the digital media industry is unrivalled.”
Voon Tze Khay, CEO and co-founder of iMedia, said: “We are very pleased to welcome Headline Media to the iMedia family. We are always looking to grow our English-language readership across our digital portfolio, and Headline Media is the perfect fit. We are very excited about the prospects of Headline Media and the synergies to be realized from this acquisition. In less than three years, Rydah and his team have successfully built Headline Media into one of Malaysia’s leading digital media portfolios. As a result, we believe we can significantly accelerate Headline Media’s revenue growth.”
iMedia is Malaysia’s fast-growing integrated digital media solutions provider, with over 13.2 million visits to its website, social platforms and influencer network. iMedia has a wide range of online brands and websites and is also a partner of well-known and popular high-quality video streaming media, including OhMedia, Ittify, Goody25, Goody!, BeautifulNara, Kimchi Daily, Moretify, WeirdKaya, LokLokWords, EzLocal Food, OnlyFood KL, Iluminasi, iQiyi, News Wav, Malaysia Gazette and Oriental Daily Online.
