Indonesia’s MD Pictures Set for IPO Boost to Hollywood Ambitions

By Patrick Frater

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Leading Indonesian film and TV production company, MD Pictures is to go public with an on the Jakarta stock exchange. It aims to raise some $29 million.

The company is selling a mixture of new shares and convertible bonds. Combined they represent 19.5% of the group’s capital. At the IDR210 per share offer price, the company has an initial market capitalization of $150 million (IDR2.174 trillion).

The company says that all the proceeds will be used for working capital, production and talent contracts. Within that, MD is also eyeing involvement in a Hollywood operation.

MD is headed by Manoj Punjabi, who founded the company in 2003 with the backing of his father Dhamoo. They are relatives of Raam Punjabi, who heads another leading Indonesian media group Multivision Plus.

MD claims that its shows account for 30-40% of the viewing time for the soap operas, aka sinetrons, that dominate Indonesian TV. The TV side accounts for roughly half of group revenues, with another 40% from feature films. Its titles include “Ayat-Ayat Cinta 2” and “Habibie & Ainun.” The company also has investments in property and an animation division.

has one of the largest populations in the world, and a significant middle class is now emerging. That is spurring significant investments in TV, film and film exhibition. Box office last year was estimated at $354 million, according to Media Partners Asia, which says that the compound annual growth rate between 2014-18 was Asia’s highest at 28%.

Film was recently removed from the list of industries which were closed to foreign investment. But with a couple of notable exceptions foreign capital has been slow to enter the country.

With NH Korindo Sekuritas Indonesia acting as the underwriter to the offer, the shares are expected to begin trading on Auf. 7, 2018.