iMedia acquires 90% stake in leading online Malay portal confirming 4th acquisition in 90 days

[Left to right}: Brian Alexis, iMedia – Sales Director ; Voon Tze Khay, iMedia – CEO; Shahzeeq, Nara Media – CEO; Nazuwan, Nara Media – Director; Loh Ken Wei, iMedia – CCO & Jacky Tee, iMedia – CFO

iMedia has acquired a 90% controlling stake in BeautifulNara, one of the leading Malay Language portals in Malaysia, marking its 4th acquisition in the span of 90 days. The acquisition goes in line with iMedia’s mission of becoming Malaysia’s number 1 integrated digital media group.

iMedia, recently announced its own plans to join Bursa Malaysia via its own 100% acquisition by  Rev Asia Berhad, currently listed on Bursa Malaysia for approximately RM40m. Upon approval by  regulators and shareholders, the BeautifulNara acquisition will be part of iMedia’s move to Bursa  Malaysia. Over  the last 3 months, iMedia announced the acquisition of OhMedia, Ittify, Goody25 and BeautifulNara.  The combined network owned by iMedia now reaches over 13m Malaysians. 

“We are excited to welcome BeautifulNara to our fast-growing content and social influencer network,” said Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of iMedia, Voon Tze Khay. “This acquisition will further strengthen the company’s dominant position in the Malay language content network in Malaysia and  our reach to the overall Malay urban youth speaking online community.” 

As part of the acquisition, the company also announced it has signed an Exclusive Advertising  Representation Agreement with Nara Media Sdn Bhd. It will be responsible for the acceleration of  all revenue across the websites and focus on building its content marketing business, as well as  introducing social selling as a new revenue platform.  

“Definitely exciting times ahead as over the years, the social and digital landscape is constantly evolving and the way we consume content is significantly changing too,” said Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of BeautifulNara, Shahzeeq. “Tze Khay and his team are a bunch of brilliant people, and definitely a lot of synergy moving forward.” 

BeautifulNara primarily focuses on the latest news on the local entertainment and lifestyle scene, as  well as the trendiest stories on celebrities, fashion and travel. Launched in 2013, it has grown into a  prominent brand and source for many visitors from Malaysia and across the region. 

According to  Similar Web Traffic and Engagement statistics, BeautifulNara has a high engagement rate as its users spend an average of 4 minutes per session each time they visit the website. “After 12 years, it’s time for me to leave  BeautifulNara in the good hands of iMedia,” said Director and Founder of BeautifulNara, Nazuwan. “Who knew, a blog I started for fun would become this big and read by millions of Malaysians.”

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