BANGKOK & HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr. 23, 2019-- VGI Global Media Plc (VGI) (VGI.BKK), Thailand’s number one online to offline (O2O) solutions provider across advertising, payment and logistics platforms, and iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited (“iClick”) (Nasdaq: ICLK), an independent online marketing and data technology platform in China, have entered into an agreement to form a joint venture (“Joint Venture”) that will enable brands in Southeast Asia to capture the multi-billion dollar Chinese consumer market through a range of technology-driven marketing solutions.

The new partnership will leverage the respective strengths of VGI and iClick to provide brands across Southeast Asia tremendous business opportunities and deepen their engagement with the large and growing customer base in China. Together the firms will generate significant cross border marketing opportunities, which can be addressed through a suite of mobile and new media products, including:

• Mobile Application - An AI-powered mobile application that generates personalized digital content based on users’ interests and preferences, allowing brands to target consumers more effectively with highly granular segmentation.
• China Solutions - China solutions comprise a wide range of digital marketing offerings ranging from marketing intelligence tools, social, and mobile solutions. These offerings not only help clients gain in-depth insights of the Chinese market based on iClick’s 780 million consumer profiles, but also provide an efficient way for clients to acquire the right consumers across multi channels in China, especially the significant number of Chinese outbound travellers.
• O2O Solutions - 10,000 new mobile charging stations with the ability to display marketing messages that will be introduced and placed throughout VGI’s network across Thailand, in prominent locations such as BTS SkyTrain stations throughout Thailand’s leading mass transit system, and the distribution centers of Kerry Express, the leading parcel delivery company in Thailand.

Nelson Leung, CEO of VGI, said, “This collaboration represents an exciting new digital development in Thailand, as well as the entire Southeast Asia region. We are delighted to join forces with iClick, strategically combining our strengths and unlocking the potential of our companies to improve our influence and market share within the region. Through iClick’s expertise in digital market analysis and knowledge of the markets in China and more widely in Asia, we will be better positioned to offer targeted, customized and measurable marketing solutions to our customers. We will also continue to expand our O2O solutions to meet the demands of the ever-growing Chinese market.”

Sammy Hsieh, Co-founder and CEO of iClick, added, “By offering a variety of innovative solutions, this Joint Venture will strengthen both VGI’s and iClick’s footprint within the region’s digital market. With the fast-changing demands of consumers, the capability to offer effective, flexible and targeted products and services is vital to the success of the future of advertising. We are confident that this strategic alliance with VGI will create even greater and more innovative marketing platforms for brands in the region, and open doors to many new business and investment opportunities between our companies going forward.”

The Joint Venture will address the significant potential of the Southeast Asia market. China is the highest ranked country in the world in terms of number of outbound travellers. According to the data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China, with nearly 150 million outbound trips were made by Chinese travellers. The most popular destination for these travellers was Thailand, followed by Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. Chinese outbound travellers also exhibit a strong propensity to spend while abroad. This group spent USD 258 billion in 2017, contributing 21% of global total spending while abroad, making China the top country in this metric. The Joint Venture has also identified opportunities not limited to the travel sector, and plans to capture potential benefits in retail, consumer goods, healthcare and entertainment, amongst others.

The establishment of the Joint Venture will be subject to certain regulatory approvals.

About VGI Global Media Plc (Stock Code VGI.BKK)

Established in 1998, VGI has been committed to be Thailand’s most customer-oriented media company. This rich heritage defines who we are and what we do today. VGI was the No. 1 out-of-home media platform having its media in Transit, Office, Outdoor, Aviation and Activation with THB 7billion inventory on hand. Now, VGI is a unique market leader with exclusive access to behavioral data from our advertising, payment and logistics platforms. We turn data to meaningful consumer insight, enabling us to offer Offline-to-Online solutions. To provide a better customer experience, we help brands to navigate their customers at every stage of the purchasing process. We are No.1 listed media company on SET by market capitalisation of over THB 67billion (USD 2billion) and generating THB 3,936milion in total sales revenue with a superior margin of 21.5% as of March 2018. VGI is a member of BTS Group Holdings Plc., Thailand’s leading provider of mass transit solutions.

About iClick Interactive Asia Group Ltd (NASDAQ:ICLK)

iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited is an independent online marketing and data technology platform that connects worldwide marketers with audiences in China. Built on cutting-edge technologies, our proprietary platform possesses omni-channel marketing capabilities and fulfills various marketing objectives in a data-driven and automated manner, helping both international and domestic marketers reach their target audiences in China. Headquartered in Hong Kong, iClick Interactive was established in 2009, currently operating in nine locations worldwide including Asia and London.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements constitute “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “explore,” “confident” and similar statements. Such statements are based upon management’s current expectations and current market and operating conditions, and relate to events that involve known or unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Company’s control. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: the Company’s fluctuations in growth; its success in implementing its mobile and new retail strategies, including extending its solutions beyond its core digital marketing business; relative percentage of its gross billing recognized as net revenues under the gross and net models; its ability to retain existing clients or attract new ones; its ability to retain content distribution channels and negotiate favorable contractual terms; market competition, including from independent online marketing technology platforms as well as large and well-established internet companies; market acceptance of online marketing technology and business intelligence solutions; effectiveness of its algorithms and data engines; its ability to collect and use data from various sources; ability to integrate and realize synergies from acquisitions or investments, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates; general economic conditions in China and other jurisdictions where the Company operates; and the regulatory landscape in China and other jurisdictions where the Company operates. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company’s annual report on Form 20-F and other filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190423005762/en/

Source: iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited and VGI Global Media Plc

For media inquiries:

iClick Interactive Asia Limited
Vivian Fu
Phone: (852) 3700 9110
Email: press@i-click.com

Paradigm Consulting
Helen Lam / Tim Nicholls
Phone: (852) 2251 9082 / (852) 2251 9081
Email: helen.lam@paradigmconsulting.com.hk /
tim.nicholls@paradigmconsulting.com.hk

VGI Global Media Plc
Kridsanakorn Rungin (Numphung)
Phone: (668) 1 782 8253
Email: vgi-marcom@vgi.co.th

For investor inquiries:

In China:
iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited
Lisa Li
Phone: (852) 3700 9065
Email: ir@i-click.com

In the United States:
PondelWilkinson Inc.
Evan Pondel / Laurie Berman
Phone: (1) 310 279 5980
Email: iclk@pondel.com

In Thailand:
VGI Global Media Plc
Pinyada Saengsakdaharn
Phone: (662) 273 8611 ext. 1513
Email: ir@vgi.co.th