Yeah1 to buy TV firm amid restructuring
Online entertainment company Yeah1 plans to buy a 51 percent stake in TV and radio company STV amid a major restructuring endeavor.
The deal is set to be completed this quarter. STV, established in 2008, owns lifestyle TV channel StyleTV, stock and finance channel InfoTV and radio channel Joy FM.
The deal was announced after Yeah1 founder and chairman Nguyen Anh Nhuong Tong sold his entire 12.89 percent stake on June 1 after 15 years of leading the company from an online news website to the first media company to be listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange.
Several other major shareholders have also been pulling out since February, including DFJ VinaCapital Venture Investment.
Yeah1 has postponed its annual general meeting twice this year saying more time was needed to prepare important documents.
It reported post-tax profits of nearly VND28 billion last year after two years of losses.
Its contract with YouTube was terminated in March 2020 due to a violation of policies, and what began as an operational error has “turned into a real crisis for the company,” Tong once said.
Yeah1 targets revenues of VND588 billion this year, down 45 percent from 2021 and the lowest since 2017.
It plans to issue 78.6 million new shares to increase its capital.