Catcha Media inks merger to form RM60m digital advertising firm

by **Cals** Sat 13 Jul 2013, 08:40

Catcha Media inks merger to form RM60m digital advertising firm
Business & Markets 2013
Written by Surin Murugiah of theedgemalaysia.com
Friday, 12 July 2013 16:30

KUALA LUMPUR (July 12): Catcha Media Bhd has inked an agreement to firm up a RM60 million merger to form one of the country’s largest digital advertising businesses in the country.

In a statement Friday, Catcha Media said the final agreements with Youth Asia Sdn Bhd to merge certain assets with Says Sdn Bhd, the owner of Says.com has been formally signed.

It said the merger would be one of the country’s largest digital advertising businesses by reach, clients and spend, and potentially revolutionise the way advertisers reach out to Malaysia’s increasingly socially connected populace.

The company had on May 13 this year entered into a term sheet with Youth Asia Sdn Bhd, the owner of Says Sdn Bhd.

It said the announcement of the merger, which synergises Catcha Media’s established digital content and broad online advertising base, with the power of social media and viral marketing of Says.com’s crowd-sourced curation service, generated significant buzz within the advertising industry.

Catcha Media chief executive officer (CEO) Patrick Grove said the future of digital marketing in Malaysia was going to be enormous.

“Our teams have been meeting with several of the largest advertisers in the country, all of whom are extremely excited about the massive possibilities the new company presents to brands looking for a complete solution that can ride the crest of this unstoppable new media wave."

Says.com co-founder and CEO Khailee Ng said the new new company is the next step in the evolution of digital advertising in Malaysia, adding that brand communication that puts advertiser content at the centre of social attention and speaks directly to the new generation of consumers in a way that generates the most influence.

“We can’t wait to share the solutions that we have just begun to roll out,” said Ng.

Catcha Media said Mobilemonday.net’s Mobile In Southeast Asia 2012 report put the number of internet users in Asean in 2012 at 163.5 million people, while Accenture has estimated that a further 194 million internet users will come online in the Asean-six nations alone between 2010 and 2020.