YouTube to End Content-Hosting Agreement With Vietnam's Yeah1

(Bloomberg) -- YouTube Inc. is ending its content-hosting agreement with Yeah1 Group Corp. after an unspecified channel management incident involving Thailand’s SpringMe, in which the Vietnamese company owns almost 17 percent, according to Yeah1.

As a result of the termination, which takes effect on March 31, the board of Yeah1 has approved a plan to consider selling the just-acquired California-based ScaleLab to protect investment capital and investor interests, the Ho Chi Minh City-based company said in a statement posted on its website Friday. Yeah1 bought ScaleLab for $20 million in January.

Yeah1 shares slumped 27 percent this year in Ho Chi Minh City. YouTube’s parent Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“We are assessing various outcomes, including a sale back to the original owner,” Yeah1 said in an emailed statement Saturday, referring to ScaleLab. Yeah1 is also negotiating with YouTube to restore its content-hosting agreement, the company said.

Yeah1 says that after the agreement ends, it will no longer be allowed to aggregate and manage revenue from third-party YouTube channels. Chief Executive Officer Dao Phuc Tri said in January that the multi-media entertainment company owned 3,000 YouTube channels with 6.9 billion monthly views, making it the third-largest YouTube multi-channel network.

The company’s YouTube business includes direct sales and managing both its own channels and third-party channels.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nguyen Xuan Quynh in Hanoi at xnguyen20@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: John Boudreau at jboudreau3@bloomberg.net, James Poole

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