Reliance Industries is in talks to buy a 29.8 percent stake in subscription-based satellite TV and video streaming service provider Tata Play from Walt Disney, Business Standard newspaper reported on Thursday, citing sources close to the development.
If the negotiations are successful, it would be the first collaboration between the Tata Group and billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s conglomerate, allowing Reliance to offer its complete JioCinema content into Tata Play’s offerings for its customers, Reuters reported.
Reliance and Disney did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment, while a spokesperson for Tata Play declined to comment.
Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Reliance is close to merging its India media business with Disney with a 51 percent-54 percent stake. The deal values the U.S. giant’s Indian operations at $3.5 billion
Bodhi Tree, a joint venture between James Murdoch and former top Disney executive, Uday Shankar, is also set to take a stake of around 9 percent in the new merged entity. Disney will hold around 40 percent.
Tata Sons, the parent company of the Tata Group, currently owns a majority stake of 50.2 percent in Tata Play. Apart from Disney, the remaining shares are held by Singapore.