The Debt Funding:
Playco Entertainment FZ LLC (Starzplay), a Dubai-based subscription video-on-demand service, has received USD 25mn in debt funding from Ruya Partners, an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm focused on private credit investments in developing markets.
The debt funding brings the total capital raised by Starzplay since its inception to USD 150mn, as the Netflix rival in the region had previously raised USD 125mn from global industry investors STARZ, a Lionsgate company, State Street Global Advisors, SEQ Capital Partners, and Delta Partners.
The funding will be used to scale operations and acquisition & production of original content. The SVOD has plans to sell its shares through an initial public offering (IPO) in the future.
Ruya is a portfolio company of Abu Dhabi Catalyst Partners, a joint venture between Mubadala Investment Company and Falcon Edge Capital.
The Company:
Founded in 2015, Starzplay streams Hollywood and Arabic movies, TV shows, documentaries, kids’ entertainment, and its original content to 20 countries across MENA and Pakistan.
With about a 32% market share, Starzplay has over 1.8 million paying subscribers and is installed on more than six million devices.
Starzplay’s shareholders include Starz & Lionsgate (40%), State Street Global Advisors (40%), and SEQ Capital Partners, Delta Partners, founders & management (20%), according to its website.
Netflix and Shahid are the competitors to Starzplay.