Amazon hired one of the Big Four accounting firms to conduct due diligence on the acquisition of MX Player. According to Mint, the process could take 30-40 days to complete.
We previously reported that Amazon was in advanced talks with Times Internet about purchasing its video streaming platform MX Player. If everything goes well after the due diligence report, Amazon will acquire MX Player in the next two months for approximately INR 600-INR 900 Cr.
“Previously, Times Internet asked for more than $100 million for MX Player, while Amazon’s internal team valued it at around INR 500 crore ($60 million). The transaction is expected to cost between INR 600 and 900 crores, according to a source.
It is important to note that Amazon’s acquisition of MX Player will strengthen its position in the AVoD (advertiser video-on-demand) space. A month ago, media conglomerate Zee-Sony expressed interest in acquiring MX Player, but talks fell through.
In India, the ecommerce behemoth currently operates a subscription-based streaming platform Prime Video as well as an advertisement-supported MiniTV service. To Indian users, Prime Video provides video streaming services, ad-free music, and free shipping on certain items.
MiniTV, on the other hand, is not a subscription-based platform and primarily targets smartphone and internet users.
MX Player was previously developed as a video player by the South Korean company J2 Interactive. It was purchased by Times Internet for approximately $140 million in 2018 and later remodelled into an ad-supported video streaming platform. MX Player currently claims to have over 300 million users worldwide.
One of the primary reasons for the sale of MX Player is that its parent company, Times Internet, is in need of funds to support its expansion plans. As a result, the company has been selling off its business verticals for quite some time.
Times Internet divested five verticals last year: MX Takatak, Dineout, MensXP, iDiva, and Hypp.
Currently, Disney+Hotstar and Netflix are the market leaders in India’s OTT space. MX Player competes with Google’s YouTube, JoshTalks, and other short-video apps in the entertainment space.
As per a Statista report, the country’s OTT video segment is anticipated to garner a revenue of $3.76 billion in 2023 and secure a market volume of $5.51 billion by 2027.
