Disney tries to exit the Tata Play by selling its Stake during the IPO
- ByStartupStory | December 17, 2022
The Walt Disney Co. tries to exit the Tata Play by selling its entire Stake in Tata Play, India’s largest satellite television operator, during the latter’s initial public offer (IPO). Their major focus is in the broadcasting and streaming service businesses in India, thereby existing distribution.
“Nowhere in the world is Disney interested in the distribution business. It is a storyteller,” sources said. On 29 November, the satellite TV operator called Tata Sky, filed the confidential offer document for the IPO with the markets regulator. As per that, Disney plans to sell its entire 29.8% stake in Tata Play, two people aware of the development said.
“Disney has decided to sell its stake in Tata Play and offered all its shares in the upcoming IPO,” one of the two people cited above said on the condition of anonymity. “Nowhere in the world is Disney interested in the distribution business. It is a storyteller,”. They added.
Disney inherited the stake in Tata Play when it acquired the entertainment business of 21st Century Fox from Rupert Murdoch and in 2004, Murdoch-owned Fox formed a joint venture with Tata group, as foreign direct investment in DTH was capped at 20% at that time. While the FDI cap was later removed, the cross-media ownership rule remained in the DTH licensing guidelines, allowing a foreign entity to hold up to 20% stake.
. “The current Indian management under K. Madhavan is of the view that acquiring the stake in Tata Play was a mistake. It was under James Murdoch and Uday Shankar when they wanted to grow aggressively and acquired minority interests in both DTH and a cable firm (Hathway Cable and Datacom). Later, Fox sold its stake in Hathway to the promoters but increased the holding in Tata Play,”“Since 2018, the ministry started asking Tata Play to clarify the shareholding. For Disney, a firm very conscious of its ‘functioning by the book’ image, this was a grey area,”. The spokesperson confirmed for the companies.
In FY10, the government issued a press note defining Indian ownership and control regulations so that if a foreign firm invests through an investment company with Indian ownership, the investment will be considered Indian too. Disney was founded on 16 October 1923 at Los Angeles, California, United States. Walt Disney signs a contract with M. J. Winkler and produced a series of Alice Comedies. The year marks the start of The Walt Disney Company, first known as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio.
Follow Startup Story
Related Posts
