iMedia acquires Favful, marks first foray into social commerce

Integrated digital media group, iMedia, announced today that it has signed a Term Sheet with Favful Pte Ltd to acquire 100% stake in Lovelife Technologies Sdn Bhd, owner and operator of the community online beauty store, Favful’s website. The acquisition marks iMedia’s first entry into the commerce business and goes in line with its mission of becoming Malaysia’s number one integrated digital media group.  

In addition to the Term Sheet, the companies have also signed an Exclusive Sales Representation  Agreement. According to a statement release, this agreement will see iMedia responsible for the acceleration of revenue for Favful’s influencer advertising unit as well as its branded content. iMedia will also be tasked to generate lifestyle content and engagement on Favful’s website and social media platforms. As part of the deal, all social media assets from the company will be fully merged into iMedia’s ecosystem. 

Favful’s social commerce platform is dedicated to helping customers conveniently shop for beauty shopping products online, by combining crowd intelligence from its community and  preference intelligence generated through machine learning. The company was founded by Sasha Tan, who was a recipient of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia Retail and Commerce Award in 2017. 

“I’m proud to see my baby achieving new heights, by joining iMedia in its mission to build the No.1 integrated digital group in Malaysia (and) inspired by  Tze Khay’s vision, expertise and leadership as well as the group’s extensive reach and sales  strength, it presents Favful a solid case to be part of the iMedia family,” Sasha said. “Since our launch in 2016,  Favful has grown into a trusted community marketplace (and) we now house over 3,000 beauty and lifestyle  influencer members reaching out to potentially 146mil social media audience. By integrating this  reach with ITTIFY (iMedia’s existing influencer agency), our combined social media audience reach is well over 172mil.”  

In the last 12 months, iMedia has confirmed six acquisitions which include OhMedia, Ittify, Goody25, BeautifulNara, Moretify and now, Favful. According to iMedia, its network of owned and managed websites currently reaches over 15 million Malaysians every month. 

In September last year, iMedia and Rev Asia Berhad entered into a Share Sale Agreement which meant that the bursa listed company acquired a 100% stake in iMedia, subject to completion and  approval from regulators. iMedia is still in the process of completing its IPO on Bursa Malaysia via  the 100% acquisition by Rev Asia Berhad for approximately RM40m. Upon approval by regulators  and shareholders, the Favful acquisition will be part of iMedia’s move to Bursa Malaysia. 

“We are excited with the  prospects of Favful and the synergies of working with Sasha and her team as both companies share  the same vision,” saidChief Executive Officer and Co-founder of iMedia,  Voon Tze Khay. “Sasha has done a tremendous job in taking Favful to where it is now. (and) together  with the wide reaching audience network and distribution strength of iMedia, we are confident in  expanding Favful’s community to become a fully integrated digital platform in the media, commerce  and influencer marketing business that will provide our customers and consumers the solutions and experience that matter.