Starz Play Arabia Streamer Gets Major Cash Injection as Abu Dhabi Partners Take Majority Stake

variety.com:

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentSubscription streamer Starz Play Arabia is getting a major cash injection from a consortium of Abu Dhabi-based companies that are acquiring a roughly 57% stake in the SVOD service.A group comprising E-Vision, which is a Hollywood and Bollywood content aggregator, and United Arab Emirates sovereign fund ADQ, has purchased a controlling stake in Starz Play Arabia, which has been valued at $420 million, according to a statement.“Starz and its parent company Lionsgate will maintain commercial agreements for content licensing to the venture,” the statement said.

The deal still needs to clear regulatory approval and some administrative procedures. Starz Play Arabia, which was launched in 2015 as the first Starz-branded SVOD outside the U.S., is now available in 19 countries across the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan.

Led by Maaz Sheikh, its CEO and co-founder, the streamer has close ties to studios –– including MGM, 20th Century, Disney, Warner Bros, Universal, Discovery and Fox International Channels –– and claims to have now reached almost 2 million subscribers.

This creates good synergy with E-Vision, a digital media pioneer in the region with a library of 15,000 hours of on-demand content across many languages.The synergy with E-Vision “will enable the launch of new product lines, expand geographic reach and access to advanced technical capabilities,” the statement note.