Following several rounds of talks, Amazon India has acquired MX Player from Time Internet Ltd (TIL) by shelling out a substantial amount. The marked-down price is not known though it could be around $40-50 million which in Indian money amounts to Rs 350-400 crore.
TIL acquired MX Player for an estimated Rs 1000 crore in 2018. Though both TIL and Amazon India are tight-lipped about the deal, it is being said the deal will be completed by June 30 this year. The US-based e-comm giant roped in a consulting firm to finish the deal.
Incidentally, MX Player’s CEO Karan Bedi will be getting one-third of the deal amount and the rest will go to shareholders. For the unversed, MX Player was the most downloaded OTT app globally in 2022. In India, too it has been downloaded most. However, it is being sold at 25% less price than the price paid for the initial acquisition.
Amazon has around 28 million users in India, while MX Player has nearly 78 million users. The OTT war in India is supposed to get intensified with Viacomm 18 streaming IPL for free on JioCinema, though it acquired IPL rights for Rs 24,000 crore.
MX Player was launched as a video player in Korea. In 2019, it was relaunched as an OTT platform. After running it for four years, TIL sold the platform to Amazon.
Watch and Subscribe for Exclusive Industry Interviews:
