Behind the scenes: The making of a mini media empire

MM2 Asia is building a mini media empire in its own right, taking a leaf from the pages of Hollywood.

Just as many major US media conglomerates have vertically integrated their operations from studio through cinema, the fast-expanding film and video production company last week also announced that it has signed an option deal to buy Cathay Cineplexes for S$230 million.

This is its fourth cinema purchase and the first one outside Malaysia (see table). It comes barely months after mm2's failed bid to buy Golden Village, the largest cinema operator in Singapore with 91 screens and a nearly two-fifth market share.

With the latest acquisition, mm2 has an approximately 14 per cent market share i…