Amazon India is in talks with film and distribution players, including Mumbai-based multiplex chain Inox Leisure, as a move to diversify its entertainment business. Amazon can buy a stake in them.
Amazon India launched its OTT platform Prime Video in the year 2016. But its growth is not as per the expectation of the company. At the same time, multiplex chains have been affected a lot due to Corona and lockdown in the last one and a half years. Amazon is interested in acquiring some of these.
Evaluation of other deals underway
An Indian Express report quoted a person associated with the company as saying, "After the initial growth for the first six months last year, the OTT content business did not grow as fast as the company expected. Currently, three to four deals in this space are being evaluated, including some stressed assets. Amazon India is in talks with some of them. ”
An Amazon India spokesperson declined to comment on the matter, saying "we do not comment on speculation about what we may or may not do in the future." The Inox Leisure stock closed at Rs 302.90 on BSE on Monday, which is 1.87 percent higher than the previous one.
Inox Leisure is one of the country's largest movie theatre series with 153 multiplexes and 648 screens across the country. The company is incurring losses due to the Corona pandemic. The company incurred a loss of Rs 257 crore in the year ended March 2021 as against a profit of Rs 141 crore for 2019-20 (April-March). About 40 percent of INOX screens are in the western part of the country. The rest are in the north, south, and east. Promoters held 43.63% stake in INOX as of June 30.