Bright Smart plans IPO for online broadcaster

Hong Kong broker Bright Smart Securities said it plans to spin off an online broadcasting business, hard on the heels of a well-received listing of its sister company Magnum Entertainment.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Peter Yip Mow-lum, chairman and largest shareholder of both Bright Smart and Magnum, said the planned spin-off listing was inspired by Hong Kong Television Network chairman Ricky Wong Wai-kay's HK$140 million acquisition of China Mobile Hong Kong, which holds a licence allowing it to offer mobile television services through the broadcast spectrum.

Yip said the broadcasting unit, which has about 14 staff currently, will be listed on the city's Growth Enterprise Market (GEM), a thinly traded alternative fundraising platform designated for start-ups.

"Under a free-of-charge model, the broadcasting unit, which will primarily focus on streaming local and mainland financial news with anchors, will target our existing 100,000 brokerage clients," said the 61-year-old entrepreneur. "The media unit has been operating for three years with a number of warrant issuers and brokers buying advertising."

He declined to comment on whether the unit is profitable, or the size and timetable of the upcoming offering, since it is under discussion with the city's securities regulators and the stock exchange.

Francis Kwok Sze-chi, an outspoken stock commentator and an executive director of Bright Smart, will lead the broadcasting unit, Yip added.

Under current GEM listing rules, companies must have a trading record of at least two financial years, including an operating cash flow of at least HK$20 million in total for the two financial years and a market capitalisation of HK$100 million at the time of listing.