According to persons with knowledge of the matter, Tata Sons increased its ownership of Tata Play to 70% by purchasing Temasek, a 10% interest held by the Singaporean government-owned investment firm, for around $100 million, or nearly?835 crore.
The pre-pandemic valuation objective of $3 billion for the direct-to-home (DTH) company has been lowered to $1 billion.
I&B Min discussed the new shareholding
As the only firm in the media and entertainment sector that the Tata Group interacts with consumers, the DTH company is essential to the salt-to-software conglomerate.
One of the people, who wished to remain anonymous, stated that Tata Play, the biggest DTH company in India with 21 million customers, had notified the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) of the change in ownership.
License holders must notify the ministry of any changes to their shareholding, partnerships, or foreign direct investment patterns in accordance with the DTH regulations.
"Tata Play's Temasek ownership has been acquired by Tata Sons. Under the condition of anonymity, a top media official stated, "The DTH company has informed the MIB about the change in shareholding."
Temasek, Tata Play, and Tata Sons all declined to comment on the news.
Following Temasek's withdrawal, Tata Play will operate as a 70:30 joint venture with Walt Disney, which is also considering its exit from the TV distribution business. Previously, Disney had a 30% share in the business while Tata Sons controlled a 60% share.
It's also thought that Disney and Tata Sons had discussed Disney purchasing a portion of the latter. Disney intends to leave Tata Play since the US entertainment company's DTH division is not its primary business.
Disney inherited the 30% ownership in Tata Play after 21st Century Fox's India businesses, namely Star India, were acquired. Rupert Murdoch was the sponsor of these companies.
Disney and Reliance Industries' Viacom18 reached an agreement in February to combine their Star India operations, becoming a $8.5 billion media conglomerate.
In 2007, Temasek purchased a 10% share in Tata Play, previously Tata Sky, through its partner Baytree Investments Mauritius.
