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GHY Culture Deal to Acquire Singapore’s Clover Films Is Canceled

Patrick Frater
·2 min read

Rising Chinese-Singapore entertainment group GHY Culture & Media has revealed that its proposed takeover of producer and distributor Clover Films is not going ahead.

GHY announced plans in mid-June to acquire a 51% stake in the 12-year-old indie film company without revealing financial details.

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In a stock exchange filing, GHY said that its MOU with Clover and its period of exclusive negotiations had expired. No reason for the failed deal was given and the filing said that the two companies would “continue to explore other collaboration opportunities.”

GHY was founded and remains headed by screenwriter and producer Guo and has significant mainland Chinese connections. These have seen the company involved in several TV drama series, including “The Little Nyonya” that are intended for mainland consumption. It recently tied up with mainland Chinese streaming firm iQiyi to form what it claims is Southeast Asia’s largest talent agency.

GHY currently produces in Singapore, Malaysia and China. It also has concert promotion operations in Singapore, Malaysia and Australia and smaller operations in talent management, mostly in China, and costumes, props and makeup services in China and Singapore.

In June, it suggested that its scale, industry experience and end-to-end production capabilities would add strategic value to Clover.

As a distributor, Clover’s main focus has been international films, especially Asian titles. It has handled films including “Train To Busan,” “Peninsula,” “Parasite” “Shockwave 2 and “CZ12.” As a producer straddling Singapore and nearby Malaysia, it has credits including Jack Neo’s “Ah Boys To Men” series, Eric Khoo’s “Ramen The” and Adrian Teh’s “Wira.” Since 2020, it has sought to become a developer of content for streaming platforms and broadcasters.

Earlier this month, Clover announced that it had picked up multi-territory rights to Giddens Ko’s “Till We Meet Again,” from Taiwan. The fantasy romance feature was the opening title of the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in July and performed the same function at last month’s Taipei Film Festival.

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