Exited ROK. What now for IROKOtv?
So last week IROKO announced the successful sale of her incubated media assets ‘ROK Group’ (‘ROK Studios’, ‘ROK1–3 on DStv/GOtv’ and ‘ROK on SKY’). IROKOtv remains intact. Still with a mission. Bring affordable, paid content to the world. Whereas I can’t disclose the number due to sensibilities in France for Vivendi Canal Plus, it was, at least to my knowledge, easily the largest media transaction / deal in West Africa history and possibly Africa (outside of SA). Mrs Njoku didn’t sell her shares, Vivendi Canal Plus acquired IROKO Ltd shares in the ROK Group, so she retains her stake. This is a fantastic exit and considering ROK was only 6-years old and required <$1m equity and debt $1.4m (Bank of Industry Loans) it was a big exit. Incidentally, as a result, Mrs Njoku now earns more than me and is almost worth more than me. I need to crack on to accelerate forward. Man must be man.
So what happens now? Make no mistake, ROK has been the reason IROKOtv has been able to survive over the last 3 years. From being incubated within IROKOtv to generating >75% of 2018 revenue in short order, the cashflow and very positive EBITDA has enabled us to grow our subscription base x3 in that period, whilst just about staying afloat. Just about. But those days are behind us. Enough of the cash from the sale will be retained in IROKO, so in theory ,we don’t actually need to raise further financing anytime soon. We may not raise money at all again before we exit.
Hi Growth, welcome back. It's been a while.
We intend to continue to focus our efforts on subscriber growth as the only KPI which really matters.
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