Star East Holdings and SPH MediaWorks, a unit of the Singapore Government-owned Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), hope to hold a quick flotation of their newly formed joint venture, StarEastWorks, in 18 to 24 months.
'A listing status would give a different profile, and this [listing] is the will of the two shareholders,' Star East chief executive Philip Wong Kun-to said.
He also hopes StarEastWorks will break even in its 'initial period' and remain in a 'healthy position' in two years.
On Wednesday, SPH MediaWorks announced it would buy a 50 per cent stake in mainland-listed Star East's television content production house for HK$150 million to form a venture to produce Chinese-language television content for the Asia region.
Both parties hope that the alliance will help expand their regional reach in the conventional content production business.
Star East provides conventional infotainment content and operates the themed Star East and Planet Hollywood cafes in Asia. SPH MediaWorks, an arm of Singapore's dominant newspaper publisher SPH, will launch two free-to-air television channels in Singapore in May.