Amazon poised to acquire MX Player, long-awaited deal finalizes
According to e4m, talks for acquisition occurred last March, but the deal wasn't finalized; now, Amazon and MX Player may seal it
Sumit Rawat
It's been reported that Amazon is edging closer to acquiring MX Player, an OTT platform owned by Times Internet. Interestingly, this isn't the first time Amazon has tried to snap up MX Player. Talks between the two companies began in March last year, but they fell through. Now, it seems they're giving it another shot.
According to media sources, negotiations are in the advanced stages this time around. The deal details have been ironed out, with Amazon already presenting a term sheet to MX Player. Rumor has it that the deal is valued at around $30-40 million. If everything goes smoothly, the MX Player team will become part of Amazon's Mini TV.
Following the failed deal last March, both companies restarted negotiations in February this year.
Back in 2018, Times Internet made waves by acquiring MX Player for a hefty sum of around $140 million or Rs 1,000 crore at the time.
Despite reaching out to Amazon and Times Internet for comments, e4m hasn't received any responses yet.
The potential acquisition could significantly boost Amazon Prime Video's user base, potentially quadrupling its reach. Amazon currently boasts around 28 million users in India, while MX Player has nearly 78 million.
This high-profile deal has the potential to intensify India's OTT competition. Notably, MX Player ranked as the third most downloaded OTT app globally in 2022, according to Data.ai's State of Mobile 2023 report. In India, it outpaced competitors like Hotstar, Zee5, Jio TV, and Jio Cinema. Originally launched as a video player in Korea in July 2011, MX Player transitioned into an OTT platform with original content in 2019.
