The high-profile film and TV production facilities Iskandar Malaysia Studios have been sold to Singapore’s GHY Culture & Media.
GHY has paid RM8.8 million ($1.98 million) for an 80% stake in Studio Management Services, investment company, to RK Media Ventures Sdn Bhd and CL Media Holdings. According to a regulatory filing GHY and SMS must pay a further RM26.5 million ($5.99 million) within five days to state-owned Granatum Ventures to buy 100% of Iskandar Malaysia Studios. That gives a total purchase price of RM35.3 million ($8 million) for a controlling 80% stake. The remaining minority can be bought out in five years.
The filing said that Iskandar Malaysia Studios’ net asset value at the end of 2022 was RM32 million ($7.23 million).
Iskandar Malaysia Studio, located near Malaysia’s southern border with Singapore, includes film stages, television studios, water filming tanks and production support facilities. These include five state-of-the-art stages which are versatile working spaces, which also have stage pits for water filming and dry use, as well as two 12,000 square feet television studios which are fully equipped and can accommodate large audience television shows. IMS also offers procurement and design services for feature films and television projects, in addition to technical equipment rentals.
GHY, which mostly produces Chinese-language film and TV series, said that it had previously produced shows at the facility. The acquisition will allow it to expand.
“The proposed acquisition is in line with the group’s strategy to expand the international reach and strengthen the regional presence of our TV program and film production business as the acquisition of the IMS Film Facilities through the proposed acquisition will enable the group to establish its own filming and production base in Malaysia. The company believes that the proposed acquisition, which is complementary to the group’s core business of TV program and film production, will enable the group to develop a stronger regional team for the production of dramas and films, achieve greater efficiencies in our TV program and film production activities, as well as increase potential co-production opportunities with other local and foreign producers,” GHY said in its filing.
The Iskandar Malaysia Studios were built with backing from a state-controlled investment firm Khazannah Nasional and opened in 2014. Shortly after, the Malaysian government devised production rebate scheme Film in Malaysia Incentive (FIMI) to attract international film and TV productions to the country, and to the studios.
The studios housed production of the first two seasons of The Weinstein Company’s “Marco Polo” series for Netflix and parts of Chinese action film “Skyfire.”