The Walt Disney Co. is holding preliminary discussions with potential buyers for its India streaming and television business, including with billionaires Gautam Adani and Kalanithi Maran, Bloomberg reported.
The US entertainment giant’s senior executives have also gauged the interest of private equity funds considering the company is exploring a range of options, which could involve selling part of the Indian operations or a combination of the unit’s assets including sports rights and regional streaming service Disney+ Hotstar, Bloomberg reported.
Asset-sale talks have already been held with Reliance Industries Ltd., controlled by Asia’s richest person, Mukesh Ambani, Bloomberg News had reported earlier on.
Disney has been weighing strategic options for its business in India, including an outright sale or setting up a joint venture, Bloomberg News had reported in July after the unit lost its streaming rights for the Indian Premier League (IPL) to Viacom18 Media Pvt.
Viacom is a joint venture between Reliance, Paramount Global and Uday Shankar’s investment firm Bodhi Tree Systems.
A potential acquisition could complement Maran’s broadcasting company, Sun TV Network Ltd., while for the Adani Group, it could help expand its newly-acquired New Delhi Television Ltd. (NDTV), sources said.
They added that deliberations are still at a very preliminary stage and any deal may also not happen, the report said.
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