India's Dish TV denies stake sale talks with Bharti Airtel

Details: Shailaja Pai; Category: Enterprise Ecosystems; 03 December 2021; 3316 views

Reuters reported that Indian telecom operator Bharti Airtel is in early talks for a majority stake in broadcast satellite service provider Dish TV India Ltd, qutoting local media Mint.

Airtel is looking to buy 5.93% stake from Dish TV's promoter group and 25.63% stake owned by Yes Bank Ltd, the report said. The lender is the largest shareholder, according to Refinitiv data.

Once the promoters and Yes Bank accept Airtel's offer, the carrier will offer to buy the remaining shares from other investors until it owns 51% stake, the report said.

Airtel declined to comment, while Dish TV said in a regulatory filing that it was not aware of the transaction.

Dish TV on Thursday clarified that it is not aware of any transaction involving the sale of a majority stake to the telecom operator, Bharti Airtel.

The D2H services operator in a regulatory filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange stated there is no information available with the company that requires necessary reporting as per SEBI regulations.

"In this regard, we - Dish TV India Limited, would like to state that there is no information available with the Company which is required to be reported under extant SEBI Regulation (Regulation 30), which may have bearing on the stock price of the Company. Further, we would also state that the Company is not aware of the transaction which has been reported in the above-mentioned news report," the company stated in a regulatory filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Earlier in February 2020, the deal between Dish TV and Bharti Airtel was called off due to differences over valuation. The promoters were in talks with a global financial investor, which had no operations in the country, to pick up half their stake, according to a report in Busines Standard.