CANAL+ Group, a content creation and distribution company, is investing in PCCW Limited (PCCW), a Hong Kong-based information and communication technology company, to ramp up the expansion of its over-the-top (OTT) video streaming Viu.

CANAL+ is now a strategic investor in Viu through a staggered investment of $300 million, which includes an initial investment of $200 million resulting in the former holding a 26.1% stake in the latter. In addition to the $300 million, a further investment (at the CANAL+ option), could result in an increase of its stake in the streaming service to 51%.

“I am extremely happy to announce this partnership with PCCW. CANAL+ already has leading market positions in Europe and Africa,” Maxime Saada, CEO at CANAL+ Group, said in a statement. “We are now looking forward to developing Asia as an additional growth engine for the group. Our investment in Viu is a major step toward achieving this goal.”

Pay for Viu subscription using GCash
GCash offers access to major entertainment content platforms

Growth of Viu

This new strategic partnership will enable the further growth of Viu, leveraging the global strength and expertise of CANAL+ through various initiatives including collaboration on premium productions and content creation, expansion of global market reach for Viu, and continual user experience improvement. 

Viu adopted a hybrid Advertising-based Video on Demand (AVOD) and Subscription on Demand (SVOD) business models and focuses on local content.

“With Viu having established its leadership as a pan-regional streaming service, we believe this is the right time to introduce a strategic partner into the business that would see us furthering our global expansion and growth by unleashing the potential of the Viu business at scale and to create further value for our shareholders,” Susanna Hui, acting group managing director and group chief financial officer, said in a statement.