A official announcement about the acquisition of MX Player by Amazon for little over $100 million in cash is expected to be made within the next week.
Senior management of MX Player will join Amazon following the acquisition.
For a while now, Times Internet has been selling off its assets. It sold MX Takatak, Dineout, MensXP, iDiva, and Hypp last year.
The US-based e-commerce giant Amazon is close to completion on the acquisition of Times Internet-owned video streaming service MX Player, following months of delays and rumors.
The e-commerce giant is acquiring MX Player for little over $100 million in an all-cash deal, according to sources who spoke with Inc42.
“Due diligence is concluded and everything is in order. Within a week, an official announcement will be made, according to those with knowledge of the situation.
Senior management of MX Player will join Amazon following the acquisition.
Until this story’s publication, Times Internet had not responded to a query email. An immediate response from Amazon India was not received. As soon as responses are received, the story will be updated.
It is important to remember that cash-strapped MX Player has been looking for an acquisition for almost a year.
MX Player, a South Korean company that was founded in 2011 as a video player, was purchased by Times Internet in 2018 for roughly $140 million. Eventually, it underwent remodelling to become a video streaming service with advertising.
It received $110 million in funding from Tencent in 2019, which at the time was thought to be one of the biggest fundraising rounds. According to media estimates, the platform’s most recent fundraising effort brought in about $500 million.
Currently serving as MX Player’s CEO is Karan Bedi. Since 2017, he has been leading the organization.
It is significant to remember that Times Internet has been selling off its holdings for a while. It sold Dineout, iDiva, MensXP, MX Takatak, and Hypp last year.
Amazon Started Talking About Buying This Year:
The intention of Amazon to purchase MX Player in order to strengthen its ad-supported MiniTV service in India was initially mentioned last year. Nikhil Gandhi, the company’s chief operational officer, announced his resignation from his position at the same time on MX Player.
But according to a Mint story, due diligence and a mismatch in valuation caused the agreement to collapse, which forced MX Player to search the private market for funds. Early this year, the acquisition talks resumed.
Although MX Player’s FY23 financial statement is not available to the general public, in FY22 it lost $100 million on revenue of $36.8 million.
More than 150 million people are reportedly active users of MX Player in the nation. In the jammed Indian OTT market, it faces off against companies like Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV.
