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Tencent
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Tencent snaps up assets of Malaysian streaming video service iflix in expansion drive

  • The Chinese internet giant has agreed to buy certain content, technology and resources from iflix
  • The deal is expected to help expand the audience of Tencent’s WeTV streaming video platform across Southeast Asia

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Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings expects to broaden the reach of its WeTV streaming video service in Southeast Asia after buying certain assets from struggling operator iflix. Photo: Shutterstock
Iris Deng

Tencent Holdings has agreed to acquire a range of assets from Southeast Asian streaming video provider iflix, as the Chinese gaming and social media giant steps up efforts to build a service that could rival Netflix in that region.

Shenzhen-based Tencent said on Thursday that it will buy certain content, technology and resources from iflix, which has struggled from a diminished advertising market during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“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,” said a Tencent spokeswoman in an emailed statement.

The company declined to provide the cost of the deal, except to say it included video content such as TV shows, movies and local original [programming] to stream or download”. The transaction will also enable WeTV, which was launched in Thailand last year, to widen its audience in a region with an internet population of 360 million.

The acquisition comes amid growing speculation about Tencent’s intention to buy a large stake in rival Chinese streaming video service iQiyi, backed by online search giant Baidu. The three companies have declined to comment on this matter, which Reuters reported earlier this month citing sources.

Such a transaction with iQiyi could help lower the cost of buying and producing video content, as the industry struggles with a slowdown in online advertising.

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