“TEMG has incurred losses of around RM10 million in the 20 months since we acquired TMI in June, 2014 and we are no longer in a position to keep it going,” said Ho in a statement today.
Ho said TEMG was approached by three parties, all of whom had existing media businesses and were interested in taking over TMI.
There was also a management buyout (MBO) offer for TMI, but the portal’s recent problems with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had considerably complicated the affair, said Ho in a statement today.
“Unfortunately, we were unable to reach an agreement with any of the external parties as well as for the MBO to take place.
“We believe the recent problems TMI had with The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had made it more difficult for a sale to be concluded even though discussions had started before that.”
He said the 59 TMI staff in the layoff would receive a severance package, but did not specify the quantum.
“The closure of TMI should serve as a reminder to those of us in the media industry, as well as the public at large, that good journalism cannot be sustained without commercial support. And when good journalism stops, society is the loser,” Ho said.
TMI has had run-ins with the government, including the recent blocking of access to its website.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak claimed the news portal had caused public “confusion” with an article quoting an unnamed source from a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) advisory panel.