Amazon agrees to acquire some assets of Times Internet-owned MX Player, not the entire company

Ecommerce giant Amazon has agreed to acquire key assets of the Times Internet-owned video streaming platform MX Player.

The deal marks Amazon's latest move to expand its services in smaller cities and towns across India, a key overseas market.

While the company didn't reveal the financial terms of the deal, multiple media reports suggested that the deal valued MX Player at less than $100 million, a significant drop from its previous valuation of $500 million.

What are the deal's specifics?

The deal involves Amazon acquiring some assets of MX Player, but not the entire company.

MX Player, which counts Tencent among its backers, has been in discussions with Amazon for nearly two years. Times Internet, the parent company, has been looking to offload various digital properties over the past two years.

“We are always looking for ways to introduce new products and services that help improve customers’ lives. We’re excited to continue to entertain India with the great local originals and exclusive content available across our Prime Video and miniTV services in India,”

Why did Amazon choose MX Player?

Amazon sees MX Player as a valuable distribution and marketing partner that can help increase its popularity and trustworthiness among audiences in smaller Indian cities and towns.

MX Player has a strong user base in these demographics, while Amazon's e-commerce service has been more popular in urban areas. Retaining the MX Player brand is part of Amazon's strategy to maintain and grow this user base.

“We are always looking for ways to introduce new products and services that help improve customers’ lives. We’re excited to continue to entertain India with the great local originals and exclusive content available across our Prime Video and miniTV services in India,” an Amazon spokesperson said.

Expanding video streaming offerings

Amazon has been expanding its video streaming offerings in India to reach beyond metropolitan areas. In May 2021, Amazon Indian launched miniTV, a free and ad-supported video streaming service in India. 

The acquisition of MX Player's key assets is expected to enhance Amazon's content portfolio and reach in the competitive Indian video streaming market, currently led by Reliance and Disney.

The transformation of MX Player

MX Player was initially a local video playback app developed by MX Media & Entertainment and gained popularity for supporting a wide range of video file formats. Times Internet acquired a majority stake in MX Player in 2018 for $140 million and transformed it into a comprehensive video streaming platform, offering TV shows, movies, and games. In response to the TikTok ban in India in mid-2020, MX Player also launched a short-video app, MX TakaTak, which was later sold to ShareChat in a deal valued at over $650 million.