Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries on Thursday completed the merger of its media business with the India business of global media house Walt Disney to form a new joint venture worth ₹70,352 crore. Reliance has invested ₹11,500 crore into the JV to support its growth.
“Reliance Industries, Viacom 18 Media Private Limited and The Walt Disney Company today announced that following the approval by the Hon’ble NCLT Mumbai, Competition Commission of India and other regulatory authorities, the merger of the media and JioCinema businesses of Viacom18 into Star India has become effective (the JV),” according to a joint statement.
“The transaction values the JV at ₹70,352 crore ($8.5 billion) on a post-money basis, excluding synergies,” the release noted.
At the closing of the transactions, the JV is controlled by RIL, which owns 16.34% stake in the merged entity. Viacom 18 Media holds 46.82% in the stake, while Disney owns 36.84% shares in the company.
The release notes that Nita M. Ambani will be the chairperson of the JV, with Uday Shankar as Vice Chairperson providing strategic guidance to the JV. The JV will be spearheaded by three CEOs, with Kevin Vaz heading the entertainment organisation across platforms. Kiran Mani will take charge of the combined digital organisation, while Sanjog Gupta will lead the combined sports organisation.
“With the formation of this JV, the Indian media and entertainment industry is entering a transformational era. Our deep creative expertise and relationship with Disney, along with our unmatched understanding of the Indian consumer will ensure unparalleled content choices at affordable prices for Indian viewers. I am very excited about the JV’s future and wish it all the success,” says Mukesh D Ambani, Chairman & Managing Director of RIL.
The JV is going to be home to the most iconic and engaging media brands in India across TV and digital platforms. The combination of ‘Star’ and ‘Colors’ on the television side and ‘JioCinema’ and ‘Hotstar’ on the digital front will provide extensive choice of content across entertainment and sports to viewers in India and globally, the release notes.
The formation of the JV will herald a new era in India’s entertainment industry for consumers. This unique joint venture of Reliance and Disney brings together the companies’ content creation and curation prowess, world-class digital streaming capabilities along with a digital first approach that will help the JV deliver unparallelled content choices at affordable prices to Indian viewers and the Indian diaspora globally.
The JV is touted to be one of the largest Media & Entertainment companies in India with pro forma combined revenue of approximately ₹26,000 crore ($3.1 billion) for the fiscal year ended in March 2024. The JV operates over 100 TV channels and produces 30,000+ hours of TV entertainment content annually.
The JioCinema and Hotstar digital platforms have an aggregate subscription base of over 50 million. The JV holds a portfolio of sports rights across cricket, football and other sports. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the transaction on August 27, 2024. Apart from the CCI, the transaction has been approved by anti-trust authorities in the EU, China, Turkey, South Korea and Ukraine.
“This is an exciting moment for our two companies, as well as for India’s consumers, as we create one of the top entertainment entities in the country through this joint venture,” said Robert A. Iger, Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company.
“By joining forces with Reliance, we are able to expand our presence in this important media market and deliver viewers an even more robust portfolio of entertainment, sports content, and digital services,” Iger adds.
In a separate deal, RIL has bought out Paramount Global’s entire stake of 13.01% in Viacom18 for ₹4,286 crore. As a result, Viacom18 is owned 70.49% by RIL, 13.54% by Network18 Media & Investments Ltd. and 15.97% by Bodhi Tree Systems, on a fully-diluted basis.
