Media group Nikkei has agreed to acquire a majority stake DealStreetAsia, a Singapore-based online financial news publication backed by media companies Hindustan Times and Singapore Press Holdings, for an undisclosed sum.
Nikkei is buying shares from Singapore Press Holdings’ corporate venturing unit, SPH Ventures, as well as venture capital fund K2 Venture Capital, VC firms North Base Media and Alpha JWC Ventures, and private investors Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Jim Rogers. Hindustan Times will retain a minority stake through its Mint subsidiary.
Founded in 2014, DealStreetAsia provides financial coverage across the Asian markets with a focus on VC and private equity deals, specialising in Southeast Asian deals. Nikkei already owns two English language financial publications: Financial Times (FT) and Nikkei Asian Review.
Acquiring DealStreetAsia will enable Nikkei to access additional coverage from the platform’s news domain and bolster the available content for ScoutAsia, a corporate-level news and data intelligence service run jointly by Nikkei and the FT.
Hindustan Times backed a pre-series A round of undisclosed size for DealStreetAsia in 2015, investing alongside Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Singapore Angel Network, which operates as part of diversified holding company Thakral Group of Companies.