Sunil Mittal's Bharti Airtel in talks with Tata Group to merge THIS loss-making business

Sunil Mittal is one of the richest men in India who runs the country's second-largest telecom company, Bharti Airtel. The Indian billionaire has been expanding his business to lead the business world. However, one of his businesses is currently at a loss. Due to this, Bharti Airtel is in talks with Tata Group for the merger of its loss-making business. It is Bharti Telemedia, a loss-making Direct-To-Home (DTH) business of Airtel. It offers cable and satellite TV services.

In a regulatory filing, Airtel said it is holding discussions with Tata Play to merge Bharti Telemedia with it. "We wish to submit that Bharti Airtel and Tata Group are in bilateral discussions to explore a potential transaction to achieve a combination of Tata Group's DTH business housed under Tata Play Ltd, with Bharti Telemedia, a subsidiary of Airtel, in a structure acceptable to all parties," it said.

It has not shared any further details. However, reports suggest that this deal is expected to be implemented through a share swap arrangement. If completed, this would be the second merger in the DTH sector after the Dish TV-Videocon d2h merger in 2016.

READ | Anil Ambani's debt-ridden company to be sold by March 12, NCLT gives BIG order

Bharti Telemedia vs Tata Play loss

Bharti Telemedia's turnover in FY24 stood at Rs 3,044.7 crore, while its loss after tax was Rs 75.9 crore. For the financial year ended on March 31, 2024, Tata Play's (erstwhile known as Tata Sky) consolidated loss widened to Rs 353.9 crore as revenue from operation declined 4.32 per cent to Rs 4,304.62 crore. The company had reported a net loss of Rs 105.25 crore a year before in FY23 and its revenue from operations stood at Rs 4,499.19 crore. Baytree Investments (Mauritius) Pte owns 10 per cent of Tata Play.

(With inputs from PTI)