The market is buzzing with whispers of a big buyout. Reports indicate that Bharti Airtel in early talks to acquire a majority stake in Dish TV India Ltd as per unnamed sources reports Mint.
This deal would give India’s second-largest telecom operator control of half of the country’s satellite television business. Bharti Airtel executives have had discussions with Essel Group founder Subhash Chandra for the transaction, the sources told Mint.
Unnamed senior executives were quoted as saying that "Bharti Airtel has offered ₹20 a share, a 16% premium to Wednesday’s closing price, to buy the 5.93% stake of Dish TV’s promoter group and once Mr. Chandra approves the deal, he will make a recommendation to the chairman (of Dish TV), who, along with the board, will then take an independent opinion."
It is to be noted that only after Airtel is able to aquire the stake from Subash Chandra will they reportedly approach Yes Bank which is the largest shareholder of the company right now.
Dish TV’s promoters pledged their shares to take loans from Yes Bank between December 2016 and July 2018. Yes Bank invoked the pledge last year after Essel Group stopped servicing the loans. Yes Bank has been looking to revamp the board at Dish TV to remove all connections with the promoter group mirroring the saga ongoing at Zee with invesco.