Bharti Airtel, Singtel planning to acquire promoter stake in Dish TV for Rs 6,150 cr: Report

Bharti Airtel along with its investor Singtel is planning to acquire promoter stake in direct to home (DTH) operator Dish TV for Rs 6,150-crore, according to a report by English business news channel CNBC-TV18.

Quoting multiple sources, the report further stated that the two are set to make a combined offer to buy Dish TV. Singtel and Airtel are looking to acquire 60% stake owned by promoters in Dish TV for around Rs 6,150 crore.

The report also mentioned that the deal price will be Rs 55 per share to trigger an open offer. Dish TV, Bharti Airtel, and Singtel refused to comment on the story, CNBC-TV18 said.

Recently, The Economic Times had reported that Bharti Airtel-owned Bharti Telemedia and Dish TV are planning a mega merger of their DTH businesses. According to the report, Bharti Telemedia is planning to merge its DTH business Airtel Digital TV with Dish TV to compete with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio.

Dish TV and Airtel Digital TV, the DTH brand of Bharti Airtel, will have over 38.6 million subscribers and a 63% share of the DTH market in India. Currently, Dish TV India is biggest TV distribution company in the country with 23.6 million subscribers, as on 31st December 2018.

“The talks are at an exploratory stage. Idea is to consolidate operations and give a strong fight to Reliance Jio. Together, Airtel Digital TV and Dish TV will be a giant,” a source with direct knowledge of the development told the pink paper.

It is pertinent to note that Bharti Airtel had earlier initiated talks with rival Tata Sky to merge their DTH businesses. However, the deal didn’t fructify.

According to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) performance indicator report for Q2 FY19, Dish TV India’s market share stood at 41% followed by Tata Sky (25%), Airtel Digital TV (22%), Sun Direct (11%), and Reliance Digital TV (1%).