DTH Dish TV gets SEBI nod, expects merger with Videocon d2h to complete by Oct
Posted on: 17/04/2017 09:26 AM
TelevisionPost Team MUMBAI: Dish TV, India’s leading direct-to-home (DTH) company by subscribers, has got the approval of capital markets regulator SEBI for the proposed merger with Videocon d2h and is awaiting clearance from the Competition Commission of India (CCI). “We have got SEBI’s approval for the proposed merger. We are yet to get the approval from CCI,” Dish TV CMD Jawahar Goel told TelevisionPost.com. Dish TV expects the merger to complete by October this year. Besides CCI, Dish TV will also have to receive approvals from National Company Law Tribunal and stock exchanges. Applications were filed during the quarter ended 31 December 2016 with the CCI and the stock exchanges for obtaining their approvals. The merged entity, to be named Dish TV Videocon, will create the largest DTH company in India. As of 31 December 2016, Dish TV’s net subscriber base stood at 15.3 million and Videocon d2h at 12.77 million. The combined subscriber strength of Dish TV and Videocon d2h thus exceeds 28 million. The DTH industry has 62.65 million active subscribers, according to data provided by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) till 31 December 2016. In terms of market share, Dish TV had the highest share with 25%, closely followed by Tata Sky at 23%. Videocon d2h and Airtel Digital TV had 20% share each. Sun Direct had 10% share of the market while Reliance Digital TV’s share was a miniscule 2%. This is based on data provided by DTH operators to TRAI. Dish TV has a mix of 70% rural subscribers and 30% urban subscribers (top 200 towns). In the case of Videocon d2h, rural subscribers comprise 60% while urban accounts for the rest 40%. In November 2016, Dish TV and Videocon d2h announced their merger proposal. Upon closing of the proposed transaction, Dish TV Videocon shall continue to be listed on the NSE and the BSE in India and on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange in the form of GDRs.
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