India's Tata Group and Bharti Group are close to merging their satellite TV businesses, creating a nearly $1.6 billion entity with the aim of tiding over the sustained migration of subscribers to digital streaming,

While Airtel will reportedly hold more than a 50% stake, Tata Play’s shareholders including Walt Disney, will own between 45% to 48% stake in the joint entity

Bharti Airtel will reportedly hold a majority stake of 52-55% while Tata Play's shareholders, including Tata Sons and Walt Disney, will keep 45-48%

The merger will see Airtel holding a majority stake of 52-55% in the combined entity, while Tata Play shareholders, including Walt Disney, will own 45-48%.

The merger is expected to be done through a share swap, allowing Airtel to increase its non-mobile revenue by offering a combination of telecom, broadband, and DTH services.

Airtel will access Tata Play’s 19 million households, supporting its plan to combine telecom, broadband, and DTH offerings. In April 2024, Tata Sons raised its Tata Play stake to 70%, buying Temasek’s 10% share for Rs. 835 crore ($100 million), setting the company’s value at $1 billion—down from $3 billion pre-pandemic.

It is estimated that the combined entity will serve approximately 35 million paid subscribers, drawn from Tata Play’s 19 million and Airtel Digital TV’s roughly 16 million, as of September 2024

The Tata Play, Airtel Digital TV merger is likely to take place via a share swap, the ET report says. Tata Play and Airtel Digital TV are heading towards a merger, an Economic Times report said on Tuesday.

India’s satellite TV industry is on the brink of a major transformation, as Tata Group and Bharti Group are reportedly close to merging their DTH (Direct-to-Home) services, Tata Play and Airtel Digital TV.

Airtel will hold a 52-55% stake in the merged entity, while Tata Sons and Walt Disney will collectively retain a 45-48% share as part of the share swap deal.

Tata Play and Airtel Digital TV are said to be inching closer to a merger, The Economic Times reported. The move comes as a strategy to counter the rising popularity of live streaming services and a shrinking customer base in the DTH sector.