Bharti Airtel, Singtel eye stake in Dish TV: report

Bharti Airtel, Singtel eye stake in Dish TV: report

The duo is looking to acquire 60 per cent stake in Dish TV for around Rs 6,150 crore.

Bharti Airtel, Singtel

MUMBAI: Consolidation in the DTH sector is not yet over. As per a report by CNBC-TV18, Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (Singtel) and Bharti Airtel are jointly looking to buy a stake in Dish TV in a bid to compete with Reliance Jio.

The duo is looking to acquire the promoter’s 60 per cent stake in Dish TV for around Rs 6150 crore. As part of Bharti Airtel’s plan to raise $4.6 billion, Singtel is likely to buy stock in it worth $525 million through shares and bonds.

A Dish TV spokesperson said that the company “does not comment on market speculations.”

GIC, the parent company of Singtel via Temasek Holdings, also owns about 20 per cent in Tata Sky and could hint at a future possibility of further consolidation in the DTH sector.

Among private players, TRAI data for 2018 shows that Dish TV (along with Videocon d2h) together owns 37 per cent market share followed by Tata Sky with 27 per cent share and Airtel Digital TV with 23 per cent share, Sun Direct with 11 per cent and Reliance with 2 per cent. DD Free Dish, on the other hand, claims to have approximately 30 million subscribers as a public platform.