PCCW Raises $110 Million to Fuel OTT Push

PCCW’s OTT international media and entertainment business has brought in Hony Capital, Foxconn Ventures and Temasek as investors, raising $110 million.

PCCW OTT plans to increase its penetration within the existing markets where it has made inroads as well as to expand its footprint in other high-growth markets. It is currently present in 24 markets globally, including with video streaming services under the Viu and Vuclip brands as well as a music streaming service under the MOOV brand. Hony, Foxconn and Temasek will own approximately 18 percent of the enlarged issued share capital of PCCW OTT.

Janice Lee, the managing director of PCCW Media Group, said, “Our focus on content, pricing and technology that are locally relevant in various markets, together with our fast-tracked rollout across the region, has enabled Viu to become a leading OTT video service in Asia. We are very excited to have Hony, Foxconn and Temasek join us as strategic shareholders. Bringing these reputable partners in the business will support our current plans and strengthen our leading position in the market with the introduction of more locally relevant and original content, and technology to support innovative product development, all of which are beneficial to our ecosystem comprised of users, advertisers and business partners.”

John Zhao, the chairman and CEO of Hony Capital, commented, “Hong Kong is the forefront of international collaboration responding to the Belt and Road Initiatives, and Viu at present has laid out an effective business map in Southeast Asian countries along the Belt and Road, which will no doubt play an essential and unique role to help the culture, content as well as creative ideas to travel abroad. We are glad that we can join hands with Viu led by Ms. Janice Lee, and we hope Hony Capital can bring in not only the capital support, but also other value-added services and resources. In the meanwhile, Hony Capital can incorporate the business into our existing endeavors in the cultural and creative industry, to eventually offer even better Chinese content to the world.”

Fang Ming Lu, executive VP of Foxconn, added, “Foxconn is transforming to be a technology service provider from content creation to network transmission. We will work with PCCW to deliver advanced OTT service to the market. We believe the collaboration will enhance the customer experience in entertainment life and accelerate the development of the OTT ecosystem.”