Hero Group promoters buy stake in STB maker ‘Mybox’

Hero Group promoters Munjal family has bought a majority stake in set-top box maker Mybox Technologies Pvt. Ltd. The acquisition is part of a broader, INR5-billion investment strategy of Hero in electronics business.

The Brijmohan Lall Munjal-led Hero Group, earlier known for its iconic motorbikes, is strengthening its electronics arm called Hero Electronix. Mybox Technologies Pvt Ltd is a Delhi-based company that makes STBs for direct-to-home operators in India. The company is recognized by Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Hero hasn’t revealed the financial details of the deal yet.

“Hero Electronix sees immense potential in Mybox and its management team. Using its core competence in hardware and embedded systems design, Mybox is strategically focusing on fulfilling the demand of digitisation in India, while simultaneously developing products for the world,” Hero Group said in its statement, according to NDTV Profit.

Mybox plans to make 1.5 million STBs in FY2016

Mybox Technologies plans to manufacture as many as 1.5 million set-top boxes in financial year 2016.

The Munjal family, promoters of Hero MotoCorp, have bought a majority stake in the New Delhi-based STB maker Mybox. Dish TV, In Digital, Hathway and Siti Cable are currently the three major customers of Mybox and the company wants to expand its manufacturing capacity to meet the rise in demand for the DAS Phase III rollout. The company does complete hardware and software designs of the set-top boxes and has a partnership with STMicroelectronics for chips, according to Television Post.

“In this financial year, we are planning to sell 1.5 million STBs and maybe double that in the next fiscal,” Amit Kharbanda of Mybox told Television Post. “With a partner like Hero, which is a reputed brand and has financial strength, we want to give confidence to Indian operators. Currently, they are working with international manufacturers who are very big.”

The Munjals acquired Dixon Technologies’ stake in Mybox for an undisclosed amount. Dixon has now exited the STB company as an equity partner, but will remain as its manufacturing partner.

“Earlier, Dixon was our manufacturing partner. Going forward, we will make STBs with Dixon. We have also tied up with Jabil Electronics. These two are big players and with them we can produce good volumes of STBs,” Kharbanda told Television Post.