Bharti Airtel has confirmed that it is in talks with the Tata Group to explore a potential merger of Tata Play, its direct-to-home (DTH) business, with Bharti Telemedia.
In a regulatory filing, the company stated, “We wish to submit that Bharti Airtel and TATA Group are in bilateral discussions to explore a potential transaction to achieve a combination of TATA Group’s Direct To Home (‘DTH’) business housed under Tata Play Limited, with Bharti Telemedia Limited, a subsidiary of Airtel, in a structure acceptable to all parties.
Media reports emerged on Tuesday suggesting that Tata and Bharti groups are in the final stages of merging their loss-making DTH businesses, Tata Play and Airtel Digital TV, amid a growing consumer shift towards digital platforms for video consumption and live streaming.
Reports further suggested that the proposed merger, structured as a share swap, aims to enhance Airtel’s non-mobile revenues by driving convergence.
Tata Play, India’s leading DTH provider, was initially launched as Tata Sky through a joint venture with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. When The Walt Disney Company acquired Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox six years ago, it took over that stake.
If completed, this would mark the second merger in the DTH sector, following the Dish TV-Videocon d2h merger in 2016.
Bharti Telemedia reported a turnover of Rs 3,044.7 crore in FY24, with a loss after tax of Rs 75.9 crore.
For the financial year ending March 31, 2024, Tata Play (formerly Tata Sky) reported a consolidated loss of Rs 353.9 crore, marking a further decline as operational revenue dropped by 4.32% to Rs 4,304.62 crore.
