Reliance And Disney Confirm Merger Of Media Business In India

According to the release, Reliance Industries will own 16.3% of the total value, Disney 36.8%, and Viacom 18 will have a majority share of 46.8% in the joint venture.
Mr. Uday Shankar, the former chairman of Disney India will be the strategic advisor and the vice chairman of the joint venture. A total investment of $1.4 billion will be made by Reliance into the joint venture in India. Furthermore, Mrs. Nita Ambani will act as the chairman of the merged venture.
Commenting on the Viacom18-Star India merger, Mr. Mukesh D Ambani, Chairman & Managing Director of Reliance Industries, said,
In addition, Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger also shared an official comment on the merger, “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.“
This venture will bring together streamable content available on Disney platforms along with more than 100 TV Channels. This huge merger has the potential to totally reform the entertainment and media business and might even create a monopoly over this market in India.
This new venture aims to generate high-quality content and make it available to people anytime and anywhere at reasonable prices. By combining their catalogs and technology, the combined entity has plans to offer diverse movies, shows, and sports streaming services.
This collaboration will most probably improve the overall experience of watching content in India while also making all forms of content, including TV (Colors, StarPlus, StarGOLD), streaming (Jio Cinema, Hotstar), and Sports (Star Sports, Sports18), available to every corner of the country.
With Disney’s popular content in the mix, the goal is to create an affordable and exciting digital entertainment experience for everyone. The combined unit will reach over 750 million viewers across India, according to the company. As of now, the estimated market cap this merger expects to gain is almost 40%, which is indeed a huge percentage. Moreover, the merger is expected to be completed by Q4 2024 or Q1 2025.