Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. said Friday its $15-million investment in iflix was converted into a 7.5-percent equity in Southeast Asia’s leading Internet TV service.
PLDT said the investment in iflix was converted from convertible notes into ordinary shares of stock, after the video streaming service provider completed this week a new round of funding led by Sky Plc, Europe’s leading entertainment company and the Indonesian company Emtek Group, through subsidiary PT Surya Citra Media Tbk.
PLDT’s shares now account for 7.5 percent of the total equity stock of iflix which had a post money valuation of $450 million, following the $45-million investment by Sky Plc and the additional investment by Emtek.
“This new round of funding validates our investment in iflix last year. It enables the company to further strengthen its leadership position and improve its Internet TV services to the benefit of subscribers, particularly those of PLDT and Smart,” PLDT chairman Manuel Pangilinan said.
Under the terms of the initial investment in iflix in April 2015, where PLDT subscribed for non-redeemable convertible notes, the new round of funding triggers the automatic conversion of the company’s convertible notes into ordinary shares and the termination of the convertible note agreement.
Catcha Group also invested another $15 million in iFlix, which planned to roll out the service across Southeast Asia, acquire rights to new content, produce original programming and market potential customers.
The fresh funds raised by iflix will be used to accelerate its growth in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, as well as for expansion into new markets.
Patrick Grove, chairman of iflix earlier said the company was looking at Indonesia and Vietnam and was hoping to enter the Middle East and Africa this year.
As of end-2015, the internet TV service had a total of over a million subscribers, the majority of which are in the Philippines.
PLDT teamed up with iflix to offer to DSL and mobile subscribers of wireless brands Smart and Sun the largest library of top US, Asian and local TV shows and films at affordable prices.