AppAsia bags lucrative TM deal
KUALA LUMPUR: AppAsia Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary, AppAsia Tech Sdn Bhd (ATSB), has signed a collaboration agreement with TM Info-Media Sdn Bhd (TMIM) to develop, market and promote the Yellow Pages digital platform for the initial period of five years from the platform launching date.
In an exchange filing yesterday, AppAsia said TMIM, a whollyowned unit of Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM), would provide the content and database to the Yellow Pages digital platform, develop the sales distribution channel and market the platform to TM’s existing and new business customers.
Sources said the deal could be worth as much as RM2 billion.
TMIM and ATSB will be sharing the revenue generated from the platform in accordance with the stipulated sharing ratio.
Yellow Pages is a leading digital business directory in Malaysia owned by TMIM and has a 500,000-strong business directory easily searchable online.
This collaboration agreement was expected to transform the Yellow Pages Business Directory into a fully-fledged digital classified platform with an online ecosystem of its own and a payment gateway using the latest artificial intelligence and big data technologies, it said in the Bursa Malaysia filing.
It is also expected to have a material financial impact on the future earnings of AppAsia as it will enable the company to have access to a large customer base and establish itself in Malaysia’s RM2.3 billion digital advertising industry.
AppAsia’s shares added 7.5 sen, or 10.2 per cent, to 81 sen yesterday.
Meanwhile, it is understood that Pelaburan Mara Bhd, which has been increasing its stake in AppAsia, played a pivotal role in the company securing the deal.
There are also rumours that Maybank Investment Bank Bhd, Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd, CIMB Investment Bank Bhd, RHB Investment Bank Bhd, Public Investment Bank Bhd and Tokio Marine, among others, are planning to initiate coverage on AppAsia.