Hot stock: mm2 Asia's shares down on lapsed deal to acquire half-stake in Golden Village

SHARES of mm2 Asia Ltd slipped on Monday after it commenced trading on the mainboard following the transfer of the listing from the Catalist.

At 4.06pm, the counter was down 7.9 per cent at 46.5 Singapore cents, after 22.47 million shares changed hands.

Selling pressures on the stock followed a lapsed bid to acquire a 50 per cent share of the Golden Village cinema chain in Singapore for S$184.25 million after the owner of the other half-share in the business did not approve it.

mm2 Asia, a producer of films as well as TV and online content, had in June signed a conditional sale and purchase agreement with Village Cinemas Australia to buy the latter's 50 per cent stake in Dartina Development, which holds the Golden Village cinema business in Singapore.

The agreement was conditional on, among other things, Village Cinemas Australia securing the approval of Golden Screen, which owns the other 50 per cent share in Dartina, by July 21. But that approval was not obtained.

mm2 Asia's listing transfer to the mainboard on Monday failed to buoy sentiment.

But mm2 Asia executive chairman Melvin Ang said on Monday the transfer was "an important milestone" for the group to realise its vision to be among Asia's leading media and content companies.

"With this transfer, we hope to gain more institutional investors in a larger capital market to better fund our future growth, generating greater value for our shareholders and customers," he said in a release.

Hong Leong Finance's role as sponsor of mm2 Asia also concluded with the transfer of the stock to the mainboard.