Sun Direct, Astro, Reliance Digital TV and the sniffing of a deal
MUMBAI: For billionaire Anil Ambani, holding on to his anaemic direct-to-home (DTH) business makes no sense. The future of Reliance Digital TV under the debt-laden Reliance Communications is dark, as it struggles with a tiny 2% market share in a rapidly growing DTH universe of 62.65 million active subscribers. The way out is its acquisition by Malaysia-based Astro in a separate deal, along with the merger of RCom’s wireless business with Aircel.
Though Astro has interests in DTH, it will be too far-fetched to think that it will have the ambition to run Reliance Digital TV on its own. The sector is hyper-competitive, there are too many players and Reliance Digital TV is like a half-built enterprise. Consolidation is the path ahead after Dish TV and Videocon d2h agreed to merge their assets to create the world’s second-largest DTH company by subscribers.
If a deal is to be hatched, Reliance Digital TV will necessarily have to move to Sun Direct. For Astro, the utility will be in strengthening Sun Direct, the company in which it has a 20% stake. Taking Astro’s acquisition route as a transitionary step will mean that the Malaysian company will increase its stake in Sun Direct subsequent to a merger. The other route could be a direct acquisition by Sun Direct.
Sun Direct, Astro, Reliance Digital TV and the sniffing of a deal | TelevisionPost.com
MUMBAI: For billionaire Anil Ambani, holding on to his anaemic direct-to-home (DTH) business makes no sense. The future of Reliance Digital TV under the debt-laden Reliance Communications is dark, as it struggles with a tiny 2% market share in a rapidly growing DTH universe of 62.65 million active subscribers. The way out is its acquisition by Malaysia-based Astro in a separate deal, along with the merger of RCom’s wireless business with Aircel.
Though Astro has interests in DTH, it will be too far-fetched to think that it will have the ambition to run Reliance Digital TV on its own. The sector is hyper-competitive, there are too many players and Reliance Digital TV is like a half-built enterprise. Consolidation is the path ahead after Dish TV and Videocon d2h agreed to merge their assets to create the world’s second-largest DTH company by subscribers.
If a deal is to be hatched, Reliance Digital TV will necessarily have to move to Sun Direct. For Astro, the utility will be in strengthening Sun Direct, the company in which it has a 20% stake. Taking Astro’s acquisition route as a transitionary step will mean that the Malaysian company will increase its stake in Sun Direct subsequent to a merger. The other route could be a direct acquisition by Sun Direct.
Sun Direct, Astro, Reliance Digital TV and the sniffing of a deal | TelevisionPost.com