Name: SCMP
Telephone: +852-2680-8888

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Bien Perez

Senior executives at Digital Domain Holdings, which runs the world's biggest independent visual-effects firm, have agreed to buy 25 per cent of the company for HK$3.97 billion in one of the biggest management buyouts in Hong Kong.
The acquisition is expected to help drive Digital Domain's expansion into the virtual-reality content business and transformation into a full-fledged technology company.
Chairman Daniel Seah Ang represented senior management in the deal entered into after trading hours on Thursday with Zhou Jian, the former chairman and largest shareholder.
In a regulatory filing, Zhou agreed to transfer 2.46 billion shares that comprise his 25 per cent stake in the company for HK$1.616 a share, a 14.04 per cent discount to the stock's close of HK$1.88 on Thursday.
Seah said the plan was to "terminate the company's existing trading business, so we can focus all our energy and resources into the visual-effects, virtual-reality content and other new technology-related businesses".
"The former chairman is very supportive of the direction in which we have taken the company," he said.
Digital Domain was previously known as Sun Innovation Holdings, which ran a scrap metal trading business as well as owned commercial properties and car parks in Hong Kong.
In July 2013, Sun bought 70 per cent of Los Angeles-based Digital Domain 3.0 for HK$392 million and later changed its name to Digital Domain.
Reliance MediaWorks, part of Indian conglomerate Reliance Group, controls about 30 per cent of the visual-effects house that was co-founded by famed film director James Cameron in 1993.
Mark Po, an analyst at China Galaxy International, said in a research note on Wednesday "there is no listed company comparable [to Digital Domain] in Hong Kong".
Po said he expected the firm to generate fresh revenue as a virtual-reality content provider amid efforts by large companies like Google, Samsung Electronics, Microsoft and Sony to promote next-generation virtual reality hardware to the mass market.
Digital Domain has taken a different hardware strategy. It recently formed a venture with Canadian firm Immersive Media to make compact, look-everywhere, high-resolution cameras - enabling consumers to create their own virtual reality content.
"We are heading to a different level as Digital Domain develops intellectual property," Seah said.


SenseTime parlays academic bona fides in facial recognition, image processing into world’s largest artificial intelligence platform

Gojek and Tokopedia’s holding group GoTo plans fundraising ahead of blockbuster IPO this year

China’s P2P purge leaves millions of victims out in the cold, with losses in the billions, as concerns of social unrest swirl

The coronavirus pandemic may seed the next big thing in tech – and you’ll never guess what it is

The Next Big Thing

Top executives buy 25pc of effects house Digital Domain for HK$3.97b

Daniel Seah says Digital Domain Holdings is expanding to become a fully fledged technology company. Photo: May Tse 

Business

Companies

Tech

Tech leaders and founders

Chairman Seah leads management in taking stake in visual-effects firm for HK$3.97 billion


New | Top executives buy 25pc of effects house Digital Domain for HK$3.97b

Chairman Seah leads management in taking stake in visual-effects firm for HK$3.97 billion