Khazanah's Granatum Ventures confirms divesting of entire stake in Iskandar Malaysia Studios

The sovereign wealth fun of Malaysia, Khazanah Nasional’s special purpose vehicle, Granatum Ventures is confirmed to be divesting its shares in Iskandar Malaysia Studios (IMS) to Studio Management Services (SMS). SMS is a consortium led by IMS’s current Malaysian team in partnership with Singaporean entertainment company, GHY Culture and Media.

This sale aims to catalyse further growth and development of the ecosystem in IMS, a statement to the press highlighted. Additionally, it could rake in foreign investment due to its larger capacity to rake in bigger productions which would contribute to higher utilisation of the studio by regional and global players.

Don't miss: SG-based GHY Culture buys majority stake in Iskandar Malaysia Studios

The press statement also posited that statement the sale will be for a 100% stake in IMS which is leasing the land where the studio premises are located from Tanjung Bidara Ventures which is another special purpose vehicle of Khazanah.

The completion of the transaction is currently pending fulfilment of the conditions.

The news broke last week that GHY Culture and Media acquired 80% of IMS. GHY made the announcement in a filing on Singapore Exchange on 31 March 2023. The filing stated that that the aggregate consideration payable by GHY Malaysia was RM8.8 million. The filing also said that IMS’ net asset value at the end of 2022 was RM32 million (US$7.23 million).  

In the filing, GHY stated that the proposed acquisition is in line with the group’s strategy to expand its international reach as well as strengthen the regional presence of its TV program and film production business because it can now fully set up shop in Malaysia.

The filing further said that with the proposed acquisition, which is complementary to the GHY’s core business of TV program and film production, there is an ability to “develop a stronger regional team for the production of dramas and films” while achieving “greater efficiencies” in TV and film production.

Moving forward, SMS is expected to further grow IMS’ services to bolster the industry’s capacities as well as facilitate future partnerships and production opportunities for Malaysia.

Content 360 is back on 10-11 May 2023 in Singapore. A hugely popular event over the years, Content 360 brings the most influential content creators to inspire you. Across two days, you can connect with 300+ brightest minds in the industry and learn how to overcome challenges to make your content stand out among the crowd. Tickets are on sale now, register today: https://conferences.marketing-interactive.com/content360-sg/

Related articles: 
Digital agency ADA acquires AI analytics company dhiOmics
Indonesian marketplace Bukalapak acquires majority stake in MY's iPrice Group
L'Oréal acquires Aesop for a whopping US$2.5 billion