Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries, Viacom18 Media and The Walt Disney Corporation on Wednesday entered an agreement to form a joint venture that would merge the television and digital streaming businesses of Viacom18 and Star India and create an entertainment giant in India. A joint statement pointed out that the value of the JV at Rs 70,352 crore ($8.5 billion) was on post-money basis, excluding synergies.
As part of the deal, the media division of Viacom18, a company within the RIL group, will merge with Star India Private, a Disney-owned entity, under a court-approved arrangement scheme. RIL would invest Rs 11,500 crore ($1.4 billion) into the JV to fund its growth strategy post-closing. Nita M Ambani will be the chairperson of the venture while media veteran Uday Shankar will be the vice-chairperson.
The joint venture will be under the control of RIL, with Reliance directly owning 16.34% and Viacom18 holding another 46.82%. Disney will retain the remaining 36.84%.
Mukesh Ambani, RIL chairman and MD, called it a landmark agreement heralding a new era in the Indian entertainment industry.
“We have always respected Disney as the best media group globally and are very excited at forming this strategic joint venture that will help us pool our extensive resources, creative prowess, and market insights to deliver unparalleled content at affordable prices to audiences across the nation,” he said.
We welcome Disney as a key partner of Reliance group,” Ambani further said.
The Walt Disney Company chief executive Bob Iger said: “India is the world’s most populous market, and we are excited for the opportunities that this joint venture will provide to create long term value for the company.’’
Saying that Reliance has a deep understanding of the Indian market and consumer, Iger added: ‘’Together we will create one of the country’s leading media companies, allowing us to better serve consumers with a broad portfolio of digital services and entertainment and sports content.”
“We are honored to expand our partnership with Reliance to now include Disney, a renowned global leader in media & entertainment,” said Uday Shankar, co-founder of Bodhi Tree Systems.
He emphasized the commitment to delivering outstanding value to audiences, advertisers, and partners, stating, “This joint venture is positioned to redefine the future of entertainment in India and advance the Prime Minister’s vision of establishing Digital India as a global model.”
The JV will bring together media assets across entertainment (such as Colors, StarPlus, StarGOLD) and sports (Star Sports and Sports18) including access to highly anticipated events across television and digital platforms through JioCinema and Hotstar. The JV will have over 750 million viewers across India and will also cater to the Indian diaspora across the world.
The announcement by RIL and Disney came within weeks of Japan’s Sony Group Corp calling off the merger agreement of its India unit with Zee Entertainment Enterprises that would have created a $10-billion media giant. Sony and Zee are now fighting a legal battle over the termination of the merger agreement.
