Airtel-Tata DTH Mega Merger: 35 Million Subscribers United to Battle Streaming Giants

Bharti Airtel and Tata Group are concluding a revolutionary merger of their DTH operations—Airtel Digital TV and Tata Play—on a share exchange basis. Airtel will own 52-55% in the merged company, and Tata Play shareholders, including Walt Disney, hold 45-48%. With a valuation of ₹12,000-14,000 crore, the merged company will have 35 million subscribers and record over ₹7,000 crore in revenue every year. This merger caters to India's shrinking DTH subscriptions, which fell by 3.6 million in Q3 2024 (TRAI data), as streaming services become popular. Airtel gets access to Tata Play's 19 million homes, facilitating bundled telecom-DTH services. Airtel will lead the operations, while Tata will have two board seats.

 

Sources: NSE, BSE, The Economic Times, Business Standard