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Sony’s Ten Sports acquisition deal collapses

Sony Entertainment Television Asia’s deal to acquire a 50% stake in Taj Television, the Dubai-based holding company that owns Ten Sports has collapsed, according to IndianTelevision.

The reasons for the breakdown in the talks, almost at the signing stage as it were, appear to be on the issue of valuation.

The information provided by the online Indian portal said; the “best price” that Sony was finally willing to value the channel at was $90 million while Taj Television was unwilling to go below $120 million.

What is surprising to many industry observers is that it was the vexed issue of valuation that had forced negotiations to drag on for over a year, and the general perception going round was that all contentious issues had finally been sorted out.

When contacted as to the reasons for the breakdown off negotiations at this late stage, Set India CEO Kunal Dasgupta refused comment except to confirm that the deal was indeed off.

Aside from Sony, Ten Sports, owned by Abdurrahman Bukhatir, has been in conversation with a number of parties including South African broadcaster Super Sports, Sahara One Media and Entertainment, Reliance-ADAG and ZEE Telefilms.