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Entertainment giant Walt Disney is exploring strategic options for its India business, including a sale or a joint venture, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people aware of the matter.
The company is also in talks with one bank to help run its business in the country.
Walt Disney’s India business comprises Disney+Hotstar and Star India (Disney Star). Both of these businesses are not performing well financially. According to WSJ, Star India is expected to see a 20 per cent drop in revenue this year. At the same time, Hotstar is expected to lose 8 to 10 million subscribers in the third quarter.
With the acquisition of Star India in 2019, it became India’s biggest television broadcaster. But in India, Disney has made several other investments since its entry in 1993.
History of Disney investments in India
In August 2003, the companies ended the JV, and the next year, Walt Disney Company (India) Pvt Ltd started its operations as a wholly-owned subsidiary.
In 2004, Walt Disney launched its Disney Channel and Toon Disney channel in five languages in India. The Star Group entered a deal to distribute the channels in India.
In July 2006, Disney India acquired a controlling stake in Hungama TV from UTV Software Communications Limited while also taking a 14.9 per cent share in UTV. In 2008, the company took an additional 17.5 per cent share in UTV.
Later in 2012, it acquired the remaining shares of UTV for $454 million and formed a new holding company Walt Disney Company India, to manage UTV and other businesses.
However, soon in 2016, it indicated that it was shutting down UTV Motion Pictures, its Hindi film production unit. It said it would focus only on Hollywood movies.
In 2017, the company announced a restructuring of its Asia business and combined India, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam under its South Asia division.
Later the same year, it launched Disney International HD to provide Disney original content. In 2018, however, it launched another HD channel UTV HD, for Hindi as well as English movies.
However, the company’s biggest deal came in December 2017 when it announced the acquisition of Ruper Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox for $52.4 billion. Among other key assets, the acquisition included the 20th Century Fox film and television studios, US cable channels such as FX, Fox Networks Group, a 73 per cent stake in National Geographic Partners, Indian television broadcaster Star India, and a 30 per cent stake in Hulu.
The deal also brought Hotstar to Disney. Moreover, it also got a 30 per cent stake in Tata Play (formerly called Tata Sky). The deal was completed in 2019.
On April 14, 2022, Star India was rebranded as Disney Star. Later, it announced its plans to shut down the UTV brand with UTV Movies, UTV HD and UTV Action being replaced by Star Gold Romance, the HD feed of Star Gold 2 and Star Gold Thrills, respectively.
Disney also launched Disney Jeans, its clothing brand in India, in 2006 with Indus Clothing. It also distributes its official merchandise with Funskool, the Indian distributor of American toy maker Hasbro.
After Star India’s acquisition
In India, Disney’s investments have struggled to make good profits. Disney+Hotstar last year announced that it would no longer be able to telecast HBO content on its platform. It also lost the digital rights to broadcast the Indian Premier League to Reliance Jio.
With a large chunk of content gone, the platform has seen a rapid depletion in the number of subscribers.
With the latest news, it is expected that the company is facing issues with Disney Star too.
International entertainment acquisitions
Walt Disney, however, has also acquired several big international entertainment companies.
In 2006, it acquired animation giant Pixar for $7.4 billion. Some of its prominent productions include Toy Story, The Incredibles series, Finding Nemo, and Inside Out. The firm has won multiple Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and Grammy Awards for its productions.
Later in 2009, Walt Disney acquired Marvel Entertainment which makes movies under the Marvel Studios brand. Some of their productions are The Avenger series and Thor: Ragnarok.
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