India's Eros in early talks with Apple, others to sell content library - source (updated)
07/08/2017 12:06
* Other companies interested include Amazon, Netflix -source
* Eros library includes hits like 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' &
'Dabangg'
(Adds details on India market, valuations)
By Sankalp Phartiyal and Shilpa Jamkhandikar
MUMBAI, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Indian movie production house Eros
Group is in preliminary talks with Apple AAPL.O and other
major content distributors to sell its entire content library of
films and music, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters
on Monday.
The other parties in the fray include Amazon AMZN.O and
Netflix NFLX.O , but talks are in very early stages, said the
source, who declined to be named as the discussions are private.
India's Economic Times reported the talks earlier in the
day. The newspaper, which cited multiple sources familiar with
the matter, said the deal could be worth around $1 billion.
Reuters could not immediately ascertain the potential deal
value, but market watchers expect it to be substantially lower.
A spokeswoman for Eros was not reachable for comment. Apple
said it does not comment on speculation, while a spokeswoman for
Amazon also declined to comment on what she called "rumour and
speculation". Netflix also declined to comment on the matter.
The talks come at a time when major global content streaming
companies are jockeying to boost local Indian television, movie
and music offerings in a bid to lure millions of users coming
online in the world's fastest growing Internet services market.
Netflix and Amazon have both been working aggressively on
securing exclusive Indian content for their respective platforms
that both launched in the country last year.
Eros began exploring strategic options about six months ago
for its Indian content library, a second source told Reuters.
The source, who also asked not to be named, said Eros
attempted to work out deals with a number of top domestic
broadcasters including Sony, Star, Viacom and Zee.
The source said the $1 billion value quoted in the ET report
was too high and that Eros' library was worth less, adding Apple
was unlikely to splurge on Indian content.
Apple, which recently began assembling some of its lower-end
iPhones in India, has been vying to boost market share in the
price-conscious Indian market. Apple's iPhones currently account
for only a small sliver of the smartphones sold in the country.
Eros, whose library includes some major hits from the Hindi
film industry, or Bollywood - such as 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan',
'Dabangg' and 'Bajirao Mastani' - has also expanded its
offerings in recent years to films in other Indian languages
such as Tamil and Bengali. Eros says it owns a library
comprising more than 3,000 Indian films.
(Reporting By Sankalp Phartiyal, Shilpa Jamkhandikar, Rahul
Bhatia and Devidutta Tripathy in Mumbai, and Samantha Kareen
Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Euan Rocha)
((samanthakareen.nair@thomsonreuters.com; +91 8067491310,
Reuters Messaging:
samanthakareen.nair.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: EROS GROUP APPLE/DEALS