Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings is buying struggling streaming platform iFlix.
The operation has around 25 million users principally in south and south east Asia.
Tencent will acquire iFlix’s content, technology and resources, however it won’t be taking on the company’s debt. “This is in line with our strategy to expand our international streaming platform, WeTV, across Southeast Asia and provide users with international, local and original high-quality content in a wide range of genres and languages,” the company said in a statement.
Launched in 2014, iFlix now runs in about a dozen markets after abandoning the Middle East and Africa. Earlier this year, the company let go of 50 staff, and it abandoned an IPO originally scheduled to launch on the Australian stock exchange in May.
The iFlix brand will survive in the short term, though ultimately it’s likely to be merged into WeTV, which Ten Cent runs outside of China.
