ShareChat Said to Acquire Rival MX TakaTak Short-Video App

The mother or father firm of India’s ShareChat will purchase native rival MX’s short-video platform in an round $700 million deal, two sources instructed Reuters, as competitors heats up within the sector the place international buyers have positioned main bets.

Indian short-video apps have change into standard since New Delhi banned ByteDance’s TikTok and another Chinese apps in 2020 following an India-China border conflict. After TikTok was banned, ShareChat’s mother or father entity, Mohalla Tech, launched the same short-video sharing app named Moj, which has over time garnered 160 million customers and counts Meta’s Instagram Reels as its key rival.

In a cash-and-stock deal, ShareChat’s mother or father entity will purchase MX’s short-video platform referred to as TakaTak, the sources conversant in the dialogue stated.

The deal, valued at round $700 million (roughly Rs. 5,250 crore), might be introduced inside days, stated one of many sources. Reuters is first to announce the 2 sides have reached a deal.

ShareChat, which is valued at roughly $4 billion (roughly Rs.29,980 crore) and counts Singapore’s Temasek Holdings and Twitter amongst its buyers, declined to remark. A spokesperson for MX stated she didn’t have any rapid remark.

With the MX TakaTak acquisition, ShareChat’s mother or father will now have two short-video apps in its portfolio.

The firm has plans to deepen its use of synthetic intelligence instruments and attain a a lot wider viewers as Moj has roughly 160 million customers in India, whereas MX has roughly 100 million, stated one of many sources.

© Thomson Reuters 2022