PRONEWS
E-Vision and ADQ to acquire a majority stake in StarzPlay Arabia E-Vision, a part of e&, formerly known as Etisalat Group, and Abu Dhabibased investment company ADQ have signed a binding agreement to acquire a majority equity stake of circa 57% in streaming service StarzPlay Arabia. The e&-led consortium will acquire a controlling stake in StarzPlay Arabia based on a post-money valuation of $420m, while also investing E-Vision’s existing stake and secondary investments to join the other existing shareholders, including Starz and SEQ Investors. Starz and its parent company Lionsgate will maintain commercial agreements for content licensing to the venture. The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals and certain administrative procedures. Khalifa Al Shamsi, CEO, e& life, and Chairman of E-Vision, said: “This new development is expected to accelerate E-Vision’s transition from focusing on the telecom network business to providing also direct-to-
The e& HQ in Abu Dhabi.
consumer (DTC) streaming services to consumers across the MENA region.” Jaap Kalkman, Group Chief Investment Officer at ADQ, noted: “The investment in StarzPlay Arabia provides ADQ access to one of the leading SVOD and OTT service providers in the region. With its state-ofthe-art technology, distribution strength and compelling and engaging content, StarzPlay Arabia has developed a unique
market positioning in the MENA region and is well positioned for further growth.” Maaz Sheikh, CEO & co-founder of StarzPlay Arabia, said: “StarzPlay Arabia has transformed the region’s entertainment sector, bringing truly homegrown competencies to serve the fast-growing demand for streaming services. The investment by E-Vision and ADQ will enable us to grow further by focusing on original content production and advanced customer personalisation.” StarzPlay Arabia has close to 2m subscribers across 19 countries, giving E-Vision an opportunity to strengthen its lead in content aggregation and access the fast-growth MENA video DTC streaming business. This will enable the launch of new product lines, expanded geographic reach and access to advanced technical capabilities. The acquisition provides potential for international expansion, leveraging StarzPlay Arabia's reach across 20 global telcos.
Ninetnine and BluTV partner to launch Helwa TV Ninetnine and Turkish SVOD service BluTV partnered to launch Helwa TV, a new live linear entertainment TV channel, last month in France. The channel will be launched in other markets, with the US the second in the pipeline. Broadcast in Arabic and French, the new live linear entertainment TV channel seeks to entertain the Arab and North African diasporas in Europe and North America. It will feature Turkish dramas and originals from BluTV and
film programming from Ninetnine’s pay-TV service Le Bouquet Maghreb, as well as Ninetnine’s originally produced and licensed content.
Mustafa Alpay Guler, BluTV International MD and Board Member, said: “BluTV sustained a significant growth both in Turkey and abroad in very competitive territories.
We became the largest original content producer in the region as the first SVOD platform in Turkey. Now we are looking to engage our audience with a linear TV offer and are very delighted to partner with Ninetnine for this new project.” Samir Zehani and Adel Hamla, co-founders of Ninetnine, added: “This is an exciting chapter in the development of Ninetnine. Helwa TV will complement our strategy to deliver the very best content to our diverse audience.”
April 2022 | www.broadcastprome.com | 5
