Walt Disney, Reliance Industries (RIL) and Viacom18 Media Private Limited on Thursday said the merger of Viacom18’s media and JioCinema businesses into Star India became effective, creating a major joint venture in India. announced. Additionally, RIL has invested around $1.4 billion in joint ventures (JVs) for growth.
“The joint venture has allotted equity shares to Viacom18 and RIL, respectively, in consideration of assets and cash,” the companies said. “This transaction values the joint venture at $8.5 billion on a post-money basis excluding synergies.As of the closing of the above transaction, the joint venture is controlled by RIL, with RIL holding 16.34 per cent and Viacom18 holding 46.82 per cent. %, Disney owns 36.84%.”
Ms. Nita M. Ambani will be the chairperson of the JV and Mr. Uday Shankar will be the vice-chairman.
As part of the deal, Paramount completed the sale of its entire 13.01 percent stake in Viacom18 Media to Reliance for a “gross purchase price of $508 million (with estimated net proceeds of $456 million),” the company said. states. He said this on the conflict with regulators.
“Optimizing our asset mix is a key pillar of our strategic plan,” Paramount said in a statement. “The sale of our 18 Viacom shares to Reliance provides an attractive financial return, contributes to our balance sheet and improves our leverage. We look forward to continuing our licensing agreement with Viacom as we move forward.”
“This joint venture is home to some of India’s most iconic and compelling media brands across television and digital platforms,” the companies said. “The combination of ‘Star’ and ‘Colors’ on the TV side and ‘JioCinema’ and ‘Hotstar’ on the digital side will provide viewers in India and around the world with a wide choice of content across entertainment and sports.”The joint venture The establishment of the company will herald a new era in the Indian consumer entertainment industry. This unique joint venture between Reliance and Disney brings together the content creation and curation capabilities of both companies, world-class digital streaming capabilities, and a digital-first approach, offering unparalleled access to Indian audiences and Indians at an affordable price. It helps provide a choice of content that you don’t have. Diaspora is occurring all over the world. ”
The joint venture will be one of India’s largest media and entertainment companies, with estimated total revenues of approximately $3.1 billion for the fiscal year ending March 2024. The company operates more than 100 television channels and produces more than 30,000 hours of television entertainment content annually. .
The Competition Commission of India (“CCI”) approved the transaction in August, subject to compliance with certain voluntary changes provided by both parties. The deal has also been approved by antitrust authorities in the EU, China, Türkiye, South Korea and Ukraine.
