Walt Disney Co. and Reliance Industries Lmt (RIL). have signed their binding agreement to merge their media operations in India, according to a Bloomberg report. Official announcement will be likely out this week.
Details of the Deal
As per the agreement, the Reliance media unit and its other affiliates expected to own the minimum of 61 percentage and the rest of the merged entity with Disney. There is a chance of change in stake which split between the partners depending on how other local assets of Disney are factored in at the time of closing the deal.
Disney reportedly agreed to sell 61 per cent of its Indian business to Viacom 18 at a valuation of Rs 33,000 crore ($3.9 billon).
Reliance Industries Lmt’s Chairman Mukesh Ambani owns Viacom 18.
Once the deal become official, it is expected to one of the important move in the Indian media and entertainment industry.
Disney’s Indian assets, including Disney+ Hotstar and Star India are at the valuation of ranging from $7 billion to $8 billion last year are evaluating by Reliance.
In 2022, investor’s interest for Disney India business started diminishing as Reliance had outbid Disney to win the streaming rights for Indian Premier League (IPL). Then the Disney lost the online rights to stream the most popular cricket tournament (IPL) from 2022-2027. IPL have been watched by crores of Indian people on online and it’s like a festival season for most of the Indian people.
For Disney, it will be a game changer, by looking at the problems it has been facing in revenue and subscribers over the past years in India. And on the other hand, it will open a way for Reliance to expand further more in the fastest growing media and entertainment world.
