The Vancouver-based digital platform is reportedly looking to make its public debut on the Toronto Stock Exchange, a move that would give the company, founded by entrepreneur Shahrzad Rafati, enough financial leverage to buy out its majority shareholder, RTL Group. The Luxembourg-based firm owns 51 per cent of BroadbandTV, and is a publicly traded unit of media giant Bertelsmann SE & Company. (The Globe and Mail)

Talking point: BBTV Holdings, the holding company of BroadbandTV, is aiming to raise $170 million in an offering that will be led by Canaccord Genuinty and Scotia Capital, according to sources who spoke to The Globe and Mail. That amount would be sufficient for Rafati to buy out RTL’s stake in her company, which she sold for $36 million back in 2013. RTL declined to exercise its right to buy out minority shareholders in 2017. At the time, Rafati claimed her company could be worth US$1 billion. Broadband TV said it is one of the biggest video purveyors on the internet—its videos had 245 billion online views in the first six months of 2020 alone. According to documents viewed by The Globe, Broadband’s revenue was $335 million in 2018, and grew to $370 million in 2019.