Advertisement

Hong Kong’s I-Cable Seeks $88 Million for Content and Restructuring

Hong Kong’s cable network provider i-Cable Communications has unveiled an $88 million (HK$692 million) share issue. It is intended to restructure the company and invest in new content.

The share issue is structured as a 1-for-1 rights issue, with new shares offered at HK$0.109, a 38% discount to the last stock trade on Friday. I-Cable shares sank to HK$0.126 on Monday. They fell a further 4.6% on Tuesday to HK$0.12.

The move is the first external fund-raising exercise since the loss-making company was taken over by Forever Top, a consortium led by the New World and Chow Tai Fook conglomerates, and provided with a $128 million (HK$1 billion) injection. Media investor John Zhao of Hony Communications is also part of the consortium.

Forever Top took a 43% stake in April 2017 after previous owner Wharf Holding refused to provide further liquidity to i-Cable. If the other shareholders do not back the plan, Forever Top’s stake would grow to some 72%.

I-Cable said that it had lost subscribers in past year, notably to OTT-providers. As a result, the HK$1 billion had been used differently to the originally envisaged plan.

The company says that $17.9 million (HK$140 million) of the rights issue proceeds will be used for capital expenditure. More than half, $44.6 million (HK$350 million,) will be spent on content and channels: $17.8 million (HK$139 million) on acquired channels: $12.8 million (HK$100 million) on movies drama series, and live entertainment content; and $11.4 million (HK$89 million) on internally-produced content.

Related stories

STX Entertainment Abandons Hong Kong IPO Plans

Appeals Court Reverses Stage Money Counterfeiting Conviction in Hong Kong

'Men on the Dragon' Invigorates Hong Kong's Indie Scene

Subscribe to Variety Newsletters and Email Alerts!