However, Disney may now sell a controlling stake in the business to Reliance, the Mukesh Ambani-controlled conglomerate whose streaming platform's success has weighed on the U.S. company's Indian business, Bloomberg reported.
Reliance, whose broadcast venture Viacom18 runs JioCinema, values Disney's India assets, which comprises the Disney+ Hotstar streaming service and Star India, at between $7 billion and $8 billion, the report said.
The enterprise value of the India business, Disney's biggest last year globally by users, was seen at around $15 billion to 16 billion when Disney took over Fox's business.
The deal could be announced as early as next month, although no final decision has been made and Disney could still decide to hold onto the assets, Bloomberg reported.
JioCinema has put increased pressure on Disney India and other streaming platforms, with Ambani marketing the platform by offering free access to the Indian Premier League cricket tournament, digital rights of which were earlier with Disney.
Persons:
Dado Ruvic, Gautam Adani, Kalanithi Maran, Mukesh Ambani, JioCinema, Ambani, OTT, Karan Taurani, Taurani, Varun Vyas, Rama Venkat, Savio D'Souza
Organizations:
Disney, REUTERS, Rights, Reliance Industries, Bloomberg, Reuters, Sun TV Network, Blackstone, Reliance, Star India, Disney's, Disney India, Indian Premier League cricket, Elara Securities, Thomson
Locations:
India, Bengaluru