Silverman Holdings Ltd., a Shandong province-based, Stock Exchange of Hong Kong-listed textile manufacturer, is doing the equivalent of packing up and moving to Hollywood.
The company indicates on its website that it is a leader in “high-end home textile jacquard fabrics.” However, Silverman made its first move towards the film and television business in December 2015, when it acquired Beijing Huasheng Taitong Media Investment Company Limited for HK$555 million (US$71 million).
The company has now decided to go all the way and drop the fabric business entirely, and change its name to Starrise Media Holdings Limited, subject, of course, to shareholder approval.
“Going forward, the Company will focus on the film, television and media industry with the aim of becoming the biggest film and television production company in China,” the company said in a statement. Wow, big dreams from a company whose “television and film media business generated revenue of approximately RMB 120.3 million and gross profit of approximately RMB 64.3 million” in 2016.
Starrise joins any number of other companies seeking to make it in China’s booming movie industry. While Hollywood has produced rags-to-riches stories of its own, Starrise’s humble beginnings and current focus on TV and web series will need quite a bit of dressing up to reach the level of Alibaba Pictures and Huayi Brothers.