KUALA LUMPUR, 1 September 2020 – Media Prima Berhad (“Media Prima” or the “Group”), Malaysia’s leading fully-integrated media group, is pleased to announce that it has acquired the remaining stake in its home shopping segment, CJ Wow Shop, making it a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Group. The acquisition is part of the Group’s transformation plan to tap into the strong prospects of the home shopping and e-commerce industry. 

The Group, via Sistem Televisyen Malaysia Berhad (“STMB”), acquired a 49% stake in MP CJ ENM Sdn Bhd (“MP CJ ENM”) from South Korean entertainment company CJ ENM Co. Ltd (“CJ ENM”). The acquisition supports Media Prima’s plan to grow the commerce segment further. The sale and purchase negotiated between the Group and CJ ENM will ensure a smooth business transition of CJ Wow Shop’s operations. All parties are committed to ensuring a seamless transition where CJ ENM will continue to provide consultancy and technical support in selected areas of operations. 

Mr. Yang Hyun Kim, Chief Executive Officer of MP CJ ENM, said: “CJ Wow Shop has become a successful household commerce brand since it was established four years ago and today, we have strong presence on both broadcast and digital platforms. We will continue to build on the success of CJ Wow Shop using the expertise and infrastructure gained, and through its established network of merchandisers. We will also continue to utilise local talents that we have trained for both its broadcast and logistic operations.” 

Dato’ Iskandar Mizal Mahmood, Group Managing Director of Media Prima, said: “Having built the brand and with key infrastructures in place, we have achieved the primary objectives of the joint venture. We are confident that critical knowledge and know-how of the business have been fully achieved. CJ Wow Shop has been and will continue to be one of the key growth areas for the Group. Looking at its performance in previous years and in the last few months, we are fully confident of the potential of this segment.” 

Media Prima’s large broadcast reach — over 35% total audience share — has served as one of the key drivers to the success of its home shopping segment. CJ Wow Shop also leverages the Group’s overall mass reach and digital capabilities to target audiences with data-driven content and to strategically plan airtime and products. 

Dato’ Iskandar added: “We would like to extend our utmost appreciation to CJ ENM. Moving forward, Media Prima Television Networks will continue its collaboration with CJ ENM primarily in the entertainment sector focusing on content production.” 

Media Prima entered into a joint venture with CJ ENM in February 2016 to launch a home shopping company, as part of the Group’s diversification strategy to capitalise on the growing consumer commerce segment. The joint venture enabled Media Prima to tap on the expertise of the South Korean home shopping giant to build the infrastructure needed to operate via Malaysia’s leading media company. 

Since operations began, CJ Wow Shop’s customer base has grown immensely, recording more than 2 million registered customers within four years. Today, it produces over 100 live show slots every month and offers 85% locally sourced products. The company became one of Malaysia’s most accessible and popular sources for home shopping content when it launched its e-commerce website and mobile commerce app that to date, has recorded 1.6 million downloads. 

E-commerce global growth trends today prove that home shopping is a fast growing retail segment, outstripping the growth of traditional retail stores. CJ Wow Shop’s multi-platform reach aims to cater to Malaysians looking for an entertaining, enjoyable and convenient shopping experience.

CJ Wow Shop has been instrumental in generating non-advertising revenue for Media Prima from both television and digital platforms, contributing over RM230 million to the Group’s revenue in 2019. CJ Wow Shop posted a first half 2020 (“1HFY20”) net profit of RM6.3 million, sharply reversing a net loss of RM7.6 million a year ago (“1HFY19”). CJ Wow Shop’s turnaround was achieved on the back of a 34% increase to RM152.8 million in 1HFY20 revenue compared to RM114.3 million in the corresponding period. This includes higher sales from its e-commerce and mobile commerce platforms which contributed over 52% of its total sales. 

END OF PRESS RELEASE 

For further information, kindly contact: 

Media Prima Berhad at +603 1300 300 672 (ext. 8949), [email protected] or +603 2724 8949

Zasman Asna at [email protected] or +6019 471 7531

Author: Sophia