Bharti Airtel Likely To Acquire Tata Play
The media reports state that Bharti Airtel is aiming to consolidate its presence in the digital TV segment which is facing difficulties in terms of growth prospects.
Aimed at strengthening its position in the digital television segment, Bharti Airtel is in advanced talks with the Tata Group to acquire Tata Play, country’s largest direct-to-home (DTH) business, as per media report. Airtel is looking to enhance its bundled offerings to boost non-mobile revenue.
The media reports stated that Bharti Airtel is aiming to consolidate its presence in the digital TV segment which is facing difficulties in terms of growth prospects.
The holding company of the diversified conglomerate, Tata Sons, has 70 per cent ownership of the company after buying out Temasek Holding Pte’s 10 per cent stake for Rs 835 crore, valuing the company at USD 1 billion. This is around three times down as compared to the USD 3 billion pre-pandemic valuation.
After merging its media operations with Reliance Jio in India, Walt Disney Company is looking to exit the TV distribution business, as per the reports. The company owns 30 per cent of the Tata Play. Disney inherited Sky’s legacy stake in Tata Play after its 2019 mega-merger with Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox.
The acquisition of Tata Play is expected to be at a similar valuation to that of the Temasek deal. As per the media reports, the original plan was to consolidate the Tata stakes and list the company, with the initial public offering documents being filed in 2022. However, Tata did not go ahead with the listing plan in August.
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