NEW DELHI, July 12 (Reuters) According to a source with firsthand information on Wednesday, Walt Disney (DIS.N) is looking into options to sell or partner with for its India digital and TV business.
The prospective partner or buyer has yet to be approached thus far, and it is still being determined how the process would proceed, the individual added. The conversations are in a “very, very nascent” stage.
“Talks have begun internally (on) what makes sense to do,” speaking to the insider, adding that officials at Disney’s American headquarters are leading conversations.
Disney did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. Tuesday’s share price for the corporation increased 1.6%.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to publish news of Disney’s conversations and stated the corporation had gone out to at least one bank about ways to assist the Indian business growth while sharing part of the costs.
The conversations come at a time when Disney has faced increased pressure due to the debut of Reliance Industries’ (RELI.NS) streaming platform JioCinema, run by Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani. He has been selling his streaming platform by offering free access to Indian Premier League cricket events, digital rights of which were formerly with Disney.
Research company CLSA predicted that Disney+ Hotstar’s subscriber base decreased by approximately 5 million customers in India after it lost the digital rights for IPL.
Reliance’s broadcast venture Viacom18, which operates JioCinema, also signed a deal with Warner Bros in April for HBO and other popular titles such as Succession. Several of these top-rated series originally aired on the Disney network in India.
Viacom18’s stockholders include Reliance, Paramount Global (PARA.O) and Bodhi Tree, a partnership between James Murdoch and a former Star India executive, Uday Shankar.
Disney’s India business includes the Disney+ Hotstar streaming service and Star India, which it acquired over when it acquired the entertainment holdings of 21st Century Fox in 2019.
It will be challenging to find an outright buyer in India, according to the source, who declined to be identified since the negotiations are private, as the enterprise value of the country’s business was estimated to be between $15 and 16 billion when Disney acquired Fox’s operations.
