Greater Mekong-focused private equity firm Belt Road Capital Management (BRCM) has acquired 40 per cent stake in digital publishing and entertainment group Sabay Digital Corporation (Sabay) from Cambodia.
BRCM has joined as a strategic investor in Sabay at a time when the company is looking at accelerating its current projects and strengthening its market entry strategy in new areas, said Sabay CEO Chy Sila, in a statement.
The investment into Sabay falls under BRCM’s general ticket size of $3 to $6 million.
Established in 2007, Sabay is the publisher of online entertainment and content including desktop and mobile games for the Cambodian market.
Sabay, which means happiness, is looking at driving innovation in a number of areas including online and mobile gaming, movies, infrastructure, content platforms (news, movies, music and TV) and others.
The proceeds from the investment will be used to further enhance the internal game development through Sabay Osja gaming studio, as well as in building out a Cambodia-focused e-Sports ecosystem, the release stated.
The funding will also aid development of more international gaming titles.
The investment marks the fourth transaction for BRCM from its debut $50-million fund established in late 2017. The PE firm looks to invest in nearly 10 companies out of its fund.
Prior to Sabay, BRCM has invested in southeast Asia-focused property portal Digital Classified Group, Myanmar-based Oway Group and Singapore and Hong Kong-based virtual network provider Unnitel.
In Cambodia, Sabay News is one of the most visited Khmer websites with 20 million page views and almost 2 million unique visitors.
Last year, Smart Axiata, a mobile operator in Cambodia, made a $1.5 million investment in the digital media business of Sabay for an exchange of 30 per cent stake.
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