Jio, Airtel in race for Zee stake

Mumbai: Billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Bharti Mittal are considering competing bids for a stake in a troubled television network Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, people with knowledge of the matter said, as their telecom carriers race for content in the world’s second-biggest mobile market.

Mittal’s Bharti Airtel Ltd. has started due diligence of Zee Entertainment and is expected to make a formal proposal soon, one of the people said, asking not to be identified citing confidentiality. Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. is also considering a bid, the people said. Deliberations are preliminary and may not lead to a transaction, they said.