Tata Group, Bharti Airtel terminate merger talks to expand DTH business
Tata Group and Bharti Airtel terminated their merger talks to expand their DTH business in India on May 3. Airtel, in February 2025, announced the potential deal, which was taken off the table as the companies were unable to find a satisfactory resolution.
Tata Group's Tata Play and Bharti Airtel's subsidiary, Bharti Telemedia Limited, have decided to terminate the talks over expansion in the Direct To Home (DTH) business, according to an exchange filing on Saturday, May 3.
“We wish to inform you that after not being able to find a satisfactory resolution, the parties have mutually decided to terminate the discussions,” said Bharti Airtel in an exchange filing.
Airtel-Tata merger talks
On February 26, Bharti Airtel announced that the company is in talks with the Tata Group to explore a potential merger deal for Tata Play's direct-to-home (DTH) business with its subsidiary Bharti Telemedia Ltd.
“We wish to submit that Bharti Airtel Ltd and TATA Group are in bilateral discussions to explore a potential transaction to achieve a combination of TATA Group’s Direct To Home (‘DTH’) business housed under Tata Play Limited, with Bharti Telemedia Ltd, a subsidiary of Airtel, in a structure acceptable to all parties. The above is at a discussion stage only,” said Bharti Airtel in the exchange filing on February 26, 2025.
As per earlier reports by the news portal Economic Times, the proposed merger was seeking to boost Airtel's non-mobile revenues through convergence.
Airtel was reportedly set to hold nearly 52 to 55 per cent stake in the combined entity, while Tata Play shareholders, including Walt Disney, would hold 45 to 48 per cent.
The Tata board was allegedly seeking two seats on the board of the merged entity, but it was to be run by Airtel's senior management.
Tata Play is India's largest DTH provider, which originally was called Tata Sky. This deal was set to become India's second most important transaction in the DTH space in the last 10 years.
Bharti Airtel shares closed 0.63 per cent lower at ₹1,852 after Friday's stock market session, compared to ₹1,863.70 at the previous market close. The company announced that the potential deal was off the table on Saturday, May 3, 2025.
Airtel's market capitalisation (M-Cap) was at ₹10.56 lakh crore, as of the market close on Friday.
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