NEW DELHI, May 23, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - The Walt Disney Company has struck a
deal to sell its minority stake in an Indian subscription television service
to local conglomerate and majority shareholder Tata Group, a report said
Thursday.

The transaction values the satellite TV provider, Tata Play, at about $1
billion, Bloomberg News reported, citing unidentified people familiar with
the matter.

Tata Group took full control of the platform after buying the 29.8 per cent
stake from Disney, the report said

Tata Play provides pay television via set-top boxes and over-the-top video
streaming through its app, boasting 23 million subscribers.

Tata Sons, the holding company of Tata Group, had already bought a 10 percent
stake held by state-owned Singaporean investment vehicle Temasek Holdings for
around $100 million, local media reported.

Tata Play had planned an initial public offering in 2022 but the listing has
yet to happen.

The latest deal comes after Disney signed an agreement in February to merge
its Indian media businesses with local conglomerate Reliance Industries, the
biggest Indian company by market cap with interests in energy, luxury retail
and telecommunications.

The merger is set to establish an $8.5 billion entertainment giant in the
world's most populous nation offering more than 100 television channels and
two streaming platforms.

Reliance already has a majority stake in media venture Viacom18 and its
streaming app JioCinema.

In 2022 the venture spent more than $3 billion to secure the lucrative
digital broadcast rights for the Indian Premier League domestic cricket
competition watched by hundreds of millions of people each year.

Disney's Indian streaming service Hotstar had more than 38 million
subscribers at the end of 2023, according to company figures, and broke
viewership records last year as India hosted the Cricket World Cup.