Amazon, others in talks to acquire Times Internet’s MX Player

These people told ETtech that the discussions are ongoing for a potential sale but the final contours of the deal are yet to be formalised.

“Both Amazon and Zee-Sony are in talks with Times Internet though a term sheet is yet to be released… Times Internet is looking to close the deal in the coming months,” one of the sources aware of the matter said. “The talks have been ongoing for sometime now,” the person added.

Karan Bedi, CEO of MX Player, declined to comment while emails sent to spokespersons at Amazon and Zee-Sony didn’t elicit a response immediately.

Times Internet is the digital arm of the Times Group, which publishes ETtech.

It is unclear as to how much the potential bidders are looking to pay for MX Player–where Times Internet acquired a majority stake in 2018. A person close to the matter said that the transaction may be upwards of $100 million in size.

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Technology news site TechCrunch first reported the development on Friday. MX Player is among the top ten Indian apps–in terms of monthly active users–according to a recent report by data.ai (previously App Annie). It was also among the top ten most downloaded apps last calendar year. MX Player has produced shows like Dharavi Bank, Aashram and Bhaukal.

Why is Amazon interested?
For Amazon, buying MX Player would complement its free, ad-supported video streaming service in India called MiniTV. Amazon runs its paid service online streaming platform Prime Video in India along with MiniTV.

Sony, which is still in the process of closing the Zee merger, operates its streaming platform SonyLiv while Zee runs its streaming app Zee5. MX Player will

ET reported earlier this month that Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE) and Culver Max Entertainment (Sony) have engaged leading global executive search firm Spencer Stuart to conduct a talent assessment of the senior executives of the two companies ahead of the closure of the merger.

Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar are among the other top-tier subscription-based streaming platforms besides Amazon’s Prime Video.

The MX Player deal talks come at a time when Times Internet has been divesting a bunch of its digital assets. In February 2022, short-video platform MX Takatak was sold by Times Internet to Temasek-backed ShareChat after which the Times Group became an investor in ShareChat’s parent Mohalla Tech. Later in May 2022, Dineout was also sold to food delivery firm Swiggy

in a $120 million stock deal. In December last year, ecommerce brand aggregator Mensa Brands partnered with India Lifestyle Network and acquired online lifestyle publications MensXP, iDiva, and influencer marketing management firm Hypp from Times Internet.