Walt Disney explores strategic options for Star India business: Report

Walt Disney is currently exploring strategic options for its Star India business, which includes the company’s open interest in both- a joint venture or sale, as per the Wall Street Journal.

Citing sources familiar with the development, the report also mentioned that the company has spoken to at least one bank about ways to help the India business grow while sharing some of the costs.

However, the talks are in the early stages and it is still unclear as to which options, if any, Disney might pursue.

That being said, Walt Disney, in 2019, had acquired the entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox and named it as Disney's India business comprising the OTT streaming service- Disney+ Hotstar and Star India, which was renamed Disney Star last year.

While the former is expected to lose 8-10 million subscribers in the third quarter of the current fiscal year, according to WSJ, Disney Star which encompasses a plethora of TV channels and a stake in a movie production company is expected to see its overall revenue declining by approximately 20% and summing up to $2 billion in the fiscal year ending September 2023.

Moreover, Disney Star’s EBITDA is also expected to get slashed by half during the same period on a YoY basis, as opposed to last year’s $200 million, the WSJ report said.

As a matter of fact, the news of Walt Disney exploring strategic options for its Star India business appears to have had a positive effect on investor sentiment, as the company's shares closed up by 1.6% on Tuesday.

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