KUALA LUMPUR: The Edge Media Group Pte Ltd (TEMG) has acquired www.themalaysianinsider.com, the country’s second most popular standalone digital English general news website.

TEMG publisher and group chief executive officer (CEO) Ho Kay Tat said the purchase of The Malaysian Insider will enhance TEMG’s presence and reach in the digital media space. The website has the second highest traffic among the pure digital local news portals in the country.

“As an integrated regional media group, we are always looking for opportunities to diversify our media platforms and we are happy to now have The Malaysian Insider as part of our portfolio,” he said in a statement yesterday.

In Malaysia, TEMG has both print and digital titles  — The Edge business and investment weekly, The Edge Financial Daily, Personal Money and the websites www.theedgemalaysia.com, www.theedgeproperty.com and www.fz.com.

Outside of Malaysia, it has The Edge print weekly in Singapore and its website www.theedgesingapore.com.

Last year, TEMG launched the first digital only regional weekly news magazine The Edge Review, which reports extensively on socio-economic and political developments in Southeast Asia.

“The purchase of The Malaysian Insider follows that of our purchase of a minority stake in the business radio station BFM in 2013,“ said Ho.

“Our decision to invest in BFM and now to buy The Malaysian Insider was also driven by the fact that we share the same vision and editorial values to promote fairness, moderation and inclusive socio-economic development,” he added.

“We welcome TEMG as our new shareholder and we welcome their commitment to the same ethos that has made The Malaysian Insider a credible news portal since our inception in February, 2008,” said The Malaysian Insider CEO and editor Jahabar Sadiq, who will continue to lead The Malaysian Insider editorial team.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on June 10, 2014.