Dish TV-Bharti Airtel deal called off due to differences over valuation

The deal between Subhash Chandra’s Essel group, the promoters of direct-to-home (DTH)) company Dish TV, and Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Airtel has been called off due to differences over valuation. The promoters are now in talks with a global financial investor, which has no operations in the country, to pick up half their stake.

The cash generated from such a sale will be used as part of the plan by the Essel group to buy back 5 per cent in flagship company Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) in the next 12 months. According to sources close to the discussions, it expects to get around Rs 2,000 crore from the deal. The talks with Bharti Airtel were over the latter buying the promoters’ stake.