MediaCorp acquires 52% stake in Indonesia’s KapanLagi

Singapore-based media giant MediaCorp announced today that it has acquired a 52 percent stake in Indonesia’s KLN Group (KLN) for an undisclosed amount. KLN is the parent company of KapanLagi Network, one of the largest and most successful online media companies in the archipelago.

The two firms signed the agreement in Jakarta today with the hope that MediaCorp’s expertise and pan-Asian reach can help accelerate KLN’s market position in Indonesia. The partnership also has a goal to create solutions for advertisers to reach customers in new ways.

While KLN is best known for its sibling media portals KapanLagi and Merdeka, it also has more specific sites that target men, women, car enthusiasts, and soccer fans. According to KLN Group, its video content has been viewed more than 450 million times, and KLN has seen revenue growth in Indonesia’s increasing digital advertising spend. Following MediaCorp’s investment, KLN’s management and operations will remain unchanged.

MediaCorp is one of the earliest movers in Singapore’s media industry, but has also moved into live entertainment as well as out-of-home and other digital businesses. Its digital properties include Toggle, Channel NewsAsia, and Kuala Lumpur-headquartered games publisher Cubinet. In 2013, it started Mediapreneur, an incubator program for digital media startups.

See: KapanLagi partners MediaCorp, announces Jakarta incubator

“Over the past three years, I’ve watched KLN grow from a startup to one of Indonesia’s top independent online platforms,” says KLN CEO Steve Christian.

“We have aggressively repositioned MediaCorp to become a customer-centric company providing greater access to diversified, innovative and engaging content across multiple platforms,” says Shaun Seow, MediaCorp CEO. “This required a relentless focus on our customers and audiences and significant ongoing investments in new businesses.”

Media research firm eMarketer forecasts that Asia Pacific’s digital ad spend is set to grow by some 30 percent this year, with Indonesia driving the most impressive growth. According to eMarketer, Indonesia is home to the third-largest Facebook mobile audience after the US and India, with around 33 million active daily users who also represent the highest mobile usage rate for Facebook worldwide. At the same time, there are more tweets sent from Jakarta than from any other city in the world.

Editing by Willis Wee; lead image from Wikimedia.