Nine buys HBO's stake in Quickflix

Nine has made a major investment in streaming service Quickflix, buying HBO's investment in the company.

A Channel 9 microphone in Melbourne

Nine makes a major investment in streaming service Quickflix buying HBO's investment in the company. (AAP)

Nine Entertainment has become a major investor in movie and TV streaming service Quickflix.

Nine, which runs the free-to-air TV network and other media ventures, has bought all of US entertainment giant Home Box Office's convertible preference shares in Quickflix.

The value of Nine's purchase has not been revealed.

HBO, the maker of programs including Game of Thrones and True Detective, spent $10 million on its investment in Quickflix in 2012, soon after signing a licensing agreement with the streaming company.

Quickflix's market value has plunged since early 2012, with its shares falling from 13.8 cents to one cent prior to Monday's announcement.

Nine said its investment in Quickflix was small and opportunistic, which it believes offers an attractive risk-reward profile.

The preference shares now held by Nine are not quoted on the share market, but can be converted to normal shares at a discount rate.

Quickflix offers streaming of movies and TV shows, from networks including HBO, the BBC and ABC, to laptops, mobile devices and game consoles.

Its customer numbers fell during 2012 and 2013, but improved in the first three months of 2014 to almost 120,000.

Quickflix made a loss of $6.4 million in 2012/13, and a loss of $4.2 million in the first half of 2013/14.


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world