Vividthree to buy rights to horror-themed comic for S$1.5m

CATALIST-LISTED visual effects studio Vividthree is buying a horror-themed Web comic for S$1.5 million, under a binding term sheet announced on Tuesday.

Vividthree, which was spun off in 2018 from media producer mm2 Asia, plans to buy the intellectual property (IP) rights to the "Silent Horror" horror series, as well as the rights and goodwill to the business name of its creator, Darkbox Studios.

Vividthree will pay vendors Goh Chun Hoong and Goh Chun Keong S$500,000 in cash, from its internal resources, as well as S$1 million in new shares. The price tag was reached on a willing buyer, willing seller basis without any valuation, it said in its bourse filing.

In line with its business model of creating virtual-reality products such as themed shows, Vividthree billed the deal as part of its plan to grow its IP ownership in the "comic video mass market", to widen the scope of future immersive-experience services.

Charles Yeo, Vividthree's managing director, said in a statement: "This comic title, which garnered over 92 million views online, is testament to the quality of the IP.

"By tapping on (sic) our post-production and content production capabilities, we want to bring 'Silent Horror' to an even wider audience via our (over-the-top) comic video platform."

Vividthree shares lost 0.1 Singapore cent or 0.98 per cent to S$0.101 on Tuesday before the announcement.