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Australian steaming service Quickflix signs agreement to stream Chinese content
Posted On Aug 05 2015
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The Australian Securities Exchange listed company, said its inked a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding to merge its business with the unnamed production outfit to “form a global streaming platform for distribution of Chinese film and TV content into China and worldwide markets”.
When struggling Australian streaming and DVD lending company Quickflix announced a trading halt last week, there were rumours it was about to be bought by a much larger company.
Quickflix announced a partnership with Foxtel in May to deliver Presto services through its platform, however the deal has since collapsed. Regardless of who it is, it could be a watershed for homegrown streaming services in Australia. The subsequent deal is still subject to regulatory approval, with the final pricetag set to be negotiated after the companies complete due diligence, with further news on the partnership expected before 20 August.
While the company it’s acquiring remains a mystery, Quickflix has revealed that it’s a profitable company that produces original Chinese movies and TV content, and also works in partnership with other US studios.
“The conditions precedent to the Foxtel Presto reseller agreement have not been met and that the agreement is therefore terminated”, Quickflix said in a statement. The company had cash at bank of $662,000.
The launch of rivals Netflix, Stan and Presto has seen its customers numbers decline rapidly in the past six months.
“When surveyed, over 95 percent of those customers churning from Quickflix in the quarter to try a competitor streaming service were opting for Netflix”. “Consolidation with Quickflix would result in the combined entity having a significantly improved financial outlook and ability to access further capital for future growth”.
“The impact of Netflix’s arrival was largely felt at the beginning of the quarter, underscoring the effect of the pent-up demand at the time of launch”, Quickflix’s latest quarterly update states.
