Tata Group is reportedly in advanced talks with Temasek Holdings Pte to repurchase a stake in Tata Play (formerly Tata Sky), the content distribution platform.
A Bloomberg report on Thursday said that the domestic conglomerate is in negotiations with the Singapore state investment firm with regard to the interest of around 20 per cent in Tata Play and that it could buy this stake at a valuation of more than $1 billion.
Part of this stake is also held by Tata Opportunities Fund. Temasek had acquired 10 per cent in Tata Play in 2007. Both Temasek and the private equity fund from the Tata group had in the past also looked at selling their stakes, which could be picked up by Tata Sons.
The report added that while discussions are ongoing there is no certainty that Temasek and Tata Play will proceed with a transaction.
Tata Play was in the news last year when it became the first firm in the country to adopt the pre-filing route for a proposed initial public offering (IPO). It pre-filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) confidentially with Sebi on November 2022.
This came after Sebi had introduced confidential filings wherein an unlisted company can keep its offer document private till the IPO plans bore fruit. This means that while its DRHP can be vetted by the market regulator, it will be open to the public only after Sebi issues its observations and the company decides to go ahead with the IPO.
In May, a media report had said that Sebi has given the go-ahead to its IPO, which could be around Rs 3,000 crore.
Tata Play, which is a joint venture between the Tatas and Walt Disney Co.’s Twenty-First Century Fox Inc, was launched introducing PVR (Personal Video Recorder) technology that enabled pause, record and rewind of content on linear channels in set-top boxes.
According to its website, this was followed by the launch of 4k set-top boxes in addition to Hindi programming guide, video-on-demand, and other features that personalised content recommendations on TV.
Similarly, its mobile app enables subscribers to experience content from linear channels as they would have watched it on their TV sets.
