Bharti Airtel and the Tata Group have mutually terminated discussions to combine their direct-to-home (DTH) businesses, Airtel Digital TV and Tata Play, after failing to reach a satisfactory agreement, Airtel announced in a stock exchange filing late Saturday. “After not being able to find a satisfactory resolution, the parties have mutually decided to terminate the discussions,” Airtel stated.
The talks, first confirmed by Airtel in February following a report by The Economic Times, aimed to merge Tata Play, India’s largest DTH provider, with Bharti Telemedia, a unit of Sunil Mittal ’s telecom giant. The proposed deal would have united two loss-making DTH operations amid a consumer shift toward digital streaming platforms.
Sources previously indicated that the merger discussions involved a share swap, with Airtel potentially holding a 52-55% stake in the combined entity, while Tata Play shareholders, including The Walt Disney Co, would retain 45-48%. Both businesses were valued at approximately ₹6,000-7,000 crore each.
Tata Play, formerly Tata Sky, is 70% owned by Tata Sons, which acquired a 10% stake from Temasek Holdings in April 2024 for ₹835 crore, valuing the company at around $1 billion. Disney holds a minority stake, acquired through its 2019 purchase of 21st Century Fox.
The failed merger would have been the second major consolidation in India’s DTH sector since the 2016 Dish TV-Videocon d2h merger and coincided with the recent formation of JioStar, India’s largest media company, through the Reliance Industries and Disney merger of Star India and Viacom18.
The termination leaves both companies to navigate the competitive DTH market independently as digital platforms continue to reshape consumer viewing habits.
The talks, first confirmed by Airtel in February following a report by The Economic Times, aimed to merge Tata Play, India’s largest DTH provider, with Bharti Telemedia, a unit of Sunil Mittal ’s telecom giant. The proposed deal would have united two loss-making DTH operations amid a consumer shift toward digital streaming platforms.
Sources previously indicated that the merger discussions involved a share swap, with Airtel potentially holding a 52-55% stake in the combined entity, while Tata Play shareholders, including The Walt Disney Co, would retain 45-48%. Both businesses were valued at approximately ₹6,000-7,000 crore each.
Tata Play, formerly Tata Sky, is 70% owned by Tata Sons, which acquired a 10% stake from Temasek Holdings in April 2024 for ₹835 crore, valuing the company at around $1 billion. Disney holds a minority stake, acquired through its 2019 purchase of 21st Century Fox.
The failed merger would have been the second major consolidation in India’s DTH sector since the 2016 Dish TV-Videocon d2h merger and coincided with the recent formation of JioStar, India’s largest media company, through the Reliance Industries and Disney merger of Star India and Viacom18.
The termination leaves both companies to navigate the competitive DTH market independently as digital platforms continue to reshape consumer viewing habits.
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