An Emirates-based technology and investment consortium is to acquire a majority stake in Starzplay Arabia.
The group including ADQ, the company behind E-Vision, is purchasing 57% of the streaming platform. E-Vision’s existing stake will be rolled into the new structure, alongside existing shareholders including Starz and SEQ Investors.
Starz will remain an investor and alongside its parent company, Lionsgate will continue to maintain commercial agreements for content licensing.
Jeffrey Hirsch, President and Chief Executive Officer of Starz, said: “Starzplay Arabia marked our first international initiative at a time when streaming internationally was still nascent. It served as a template for growth that allowed us to rapidly scale the Starzplay brand around the world now in over 60 countries. We’re pleased to continue our productive partnership with E-Vision while adding ADQ to the venture, partners whose local market expertise will help us continue to accelerate the growth of the business together and create enormous value.”
The deal values the company at $420 million.
Launched in April 2015, Starzplay streams Arabic and Hollywood content to 2 million subscribers in 20 countries across the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan.
