LOS ANGELES (Diya TV) — The Walt Disney Company has finalized a deal to sell its minority stake in Tata Play, an Indian subscription television service, to the local conglomerate Tata Group. This transaction values Tata Play at approximately $1 billion, according to Bloomberg News, which cited sources familiar with the matter.
Tata Group, already a majority shareholder, has now taken full control of Tata Play by purchasing Disney’s 29.8% stake. Tata Play offers pay television services via set-top boxes and over-the-top (OTT) video streaming through its app, serving a substantial customer base of 23 million subscribers.
Earlier this year, Tata Sons, the holding company of Tata Group, increased its stake in Tata Play by acquiring a 10% share from Temasek Holdings, a state-owned investment vehicle from Singapore, for around $100 million. With this acquisition, Tata Play now operates as a 70:30 joint venture between Tata Group and Disney.
Tata Play had initially planned an initial public offering (IPO) in 2022, but the listing has yet to materialize. Despite this, Tata Play continues to expand its footprint across India, providing a wide range of entertainment options to millions of households.
This sale coincides with a significant shift in India’s media landscape. In February, Disney signed a binding agreement to merge its Indian media businesses with Reliance Industries, the largest company in India by market capitalization. This merger will create an $8.5 billion entertainment behemoth, offering over 100 television channels and two streaming platforms. Reliance, which already holds a majority stake in Viacom18 and its streaming app JioCinema, spent over $3 billion in 2022 to secure the digital broadcast rights for the Indian Premier League (IPL), a cricket competition that attracts hundreds of millions of viewers each year.
Disney’s Indian streaming service, Hotstar, reported more than 38 million subscribers at the end of 2023. It set viewership records during the Cricket World Cup, hosted by India last year.
Tata Play, initially incorporated in 2001 as a joint venture between Tata Group and TFCF Corp. (formerly known as Twenty-First Century Fox), has grown significantly over the years. With the latest transaction, Tata Group now holds a controlling interest, solidifying its position in the competitive Indian media market.
Representatives from Tata Group, Disney, and Temasek declined to comment on the deal. However, this move reflects Disney’s strategic focus on its merger with Reliance Industries, aiming to create a dominant force in India’s entertainment industry.
