Tata Sons Seeks CCI Clearance To Acquire Additional 10 PC Stake in Tata Play

Tata Sons, promoter of Tata Group, has sought approval from fair trade regulator CCI for acquiring an additional 10 per cent stake in DTH operator Tata Play from Temasek Holdings, a Singapore based government firm.

"The proposed transaction relates to Tata Sons' acquisition of 10 per cent shareholding in Tata Play from Baytree Investments (Mauritius) Pte Ltd," states a notice filed with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Thursday, reported by PTI. Baytree Investments (Mauritius) is a subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund.

After the addition of this 10 per cent stake, Tata Sons will own 70 per cent holding in Tata Play. Before this, the entertainment streaming platform has 60 per cent stake in it.
Tata Sons Pvt Ltd is an investment holding company, registered as a core investment company with the Reserve Bank of India and is recognized as a "Systemically Important Non-Deposit Taking Core Investment Company."

What is Systemically Important Non-Deposit Taking Core Investment Company?

A Systemically Important Non-Deposit Taking CIC is a industrial body that invests in other businesses and is very crucial to the economy. It doesn't take money from the public like a bank. It mainly focuses on managing its investments and is closely watched by watchdogs. 

The proposed transaction is being notified to the Commission under Section 6(2) and Section 5(a) of the Competition Act, 2002, Tata Sons said. Tata Play, previously known as Tata Sky, is one of India's major content providing platforms, offering services through their pay TV and OTT platform.

In their submission to the CCI for assessing the proposed transaction, the relevant parties (Tata Sons and Tata Play) claimed that the transaction will not have a negative impact on competition in the market. 

“Accordingly, the definition of the relevant market may remain open, the CCI may assess the transaction in the context of wired broadband internet services in India and the complementary link between internet access provided by Tata Sons through its affiliates and web-based services like Tata Play Binge”, notice states further, as reported by PTI.

(With the inputs from PTI)