Reliance Industries, Viacom 18 and Walt Disney have signed a joint venture agreement. Under the deal, Viacom 18 will be merged into Star India. Nita Ambani will be the chairperson of the new company. Former Walt Disney executive Uday Shankar will be the vice chairperson.
After completion of the deal, it will become the largest company in the Indian media, entertainment and sports sector. It will have over 100 channels in multiple languages, two leading OTT platforms and a viewer base of 75 crore across the country. The deal is expected to be completed in early 2025.
The transaction value of this joint venture on post-money basis is estimated at Rs 70,352 crore. After completion of the transaction, Reliance Industries will control the new company and will also invest Rs 11,500 crore in it. In this, Reliance and its subsidiary Viacom will hold a majority stake of 63.16%, while Disney will hold 36.84%.
The new company will be one of the leading TV and digital streaming platforms for entertainment and sports content in India. Entertainment channels like Colors, StarPlus, StarGold and sports channels like Star Sports and Sports18 will be available simultaneously. Jio Cinema and Hotstar will also come together. The new company will also have the license to more than 30,000 pieces of Disney content.
Disney CEO Bob Iger said that Reliance has a deep understanding of the Indian market and consumer. Together, we will become one of the leading media companies in the country, which will enable us to provide better services to consumers with a large portfolio of digital services, entertainment and sports content.
Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani said that this is a historic deal, which is the beginning of a new era in the Indian entertainment industry. We have always respected Disney as the best media group globally.
We are very excited about this strategic joint venture and welcome Disney as a key partner of Reliance Group. This will help us show unique content to viewers across the country at an affordable price.
