2 Oct – mm2 Asia has recently announced a management and organisational change which includes the formation of a cinema business management team and a newly promoted CFO. "These management changes represent the next step in the evolution of our business," said CEO of mm2 Asia Melvin Ang. "The appointment of the talented and experienced Ha Yu and other management appointments are aimed at boosting mm2 Asia's next phase of innovation and growth. Our Board of Directors strongly believes in the acquisition of leadership talent and the development of management to support mm2 Asia's plans for growth." The cinema business management team will have Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Tay Joo Heng, who will be re-designated as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of mm2 Screen Management Sdn Bhd, overseeing the Group's (mm2 Asia Ltd. and subsidiaries) cinema business. Deputy CFO Chong How Kiat will be promoted to CFO of mm2 Asia and will assume responsibility for mm2 Asia's and the Group's finance related matters.
Veteran Hong Kong actor Ha Yu, also known as Wong Shing, who has experience working with television network TVB since the '70s, will be appointed Executive Director of mm2 Entertainment Hong Kong Limited, where he will be responsible for contributing to mm2 Entertainment Hong Kong's overall strategy. General Manager of mm2 Entertainment Sdn Bhd (mm2 Malaysia) Angelin Ong will be appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) of mm2 Screen, where she will be responsible for the overall operations of mm2 Screen. Meanwhile, Lai Cheah Yee will be appointed as Director, Business Development and Content / General Manager Designate of mm2 Malaysia. Back in August, it was reported that mm2 Asia has acquired a total of five cinemas in Malaysia, two were owned by Cathay Cineplexes Sdn Bhd (Cathay Cineplex Damansara and Cathay Cineplex City Square) and three by Mega Cinemas Management Sdn Bhd (Mega Cineplex Prai, Mega Cineplex Langkawi and Mega Cineplex Bertam). With five cinemas under its brand, it is possible that the company may set its sights to acquire more cinemas in Malaysia or Singapore, or even open new ones, in order to expand on its cinema chain. The cinemas it has acquired in Malaysia could also possibly go through rebranding and go by the name, 'mm2 Screen', as the Cathay Cineplexes in Malaysia and Mega Cineplex are both names derived from and representing their previous owners, Cathay Cineplexes Sdn Bhd and Mega Cinema Management Sdn Bhd, respectively. mm2 Asia could not be reached for confirmation at the time of writing.