On Thursday, The Walt Disney Company, Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), and Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd. announced that the merger of Viacom18’s media assets and JioCinema with Star India is now finalized, establishing a significant joint venture in the Indian media sector. Additionally, RIL has contributed approximately $1.4 billion to support the joint venture’s future growth and development.
The companies said, “The JV has allotted shares to Viacom18 and RIL as consideration for the assets and cash, respectively. The transaction values the JV at $8.5 billion on a post-money basis, excluding synergies. At the closing of the transactions noted above, the JV is controlled by RIL and owned 16.34 percent by RIL, 46.82 percent by Viacom18 and 36.84 percent by Disney.”
Nita M. Ambani has been appointed chairperson of the joint venture, with Uday Shankar taking on the role of vice chairperson in the newly formed joint venture. As part of the arrangement, Paramount Global has finalized the sale of its 13.01 percent equity interest in Viacom18 Media to Reliance Industries. According to a regulatory filing by the company, the sale was completed for a total of $508 million, with Paramount expecting net proceeds of approximately $456 million,
Paramount said in a statement, “Optimizing our asset mix is an important pillar of our strategic plan. The sale of our Viacom 18 stake to Reliance provides an attractive financial return, is helpful to our balance sheet and improves leverage. We also look forward to the continuation of our licensing agreement with Viacom 18 as we monetize Paramount’s world-class content globally.”
With an estimated combined revenue of $3.1 billion, the joint venture is set to become one of India’s largest media and entertainment companies, for the fiscal year ending March 2024. The entity manages over 100 television channels and produces more than 30,000 hours of entertainment content annually.
The firm said, “The JV is home to the most iconic and engaging media brands in India across TV and digital platforms. The combination of ‘Star’ and ‘Colors’ on the television side and ‘JioCinema’ and ‘Hotstar’ on the digital front will provide extensive choice of content across entertainment and sports to viewers in India and globally. The formation of the JV will herald a new era in India’s entertainment industry for consumers. This unique joint venture of Reliance and Disney brings together the companies’ content creation and curation prowess, world-class digital streaming capabilities along with a digital-first approach that will help the JV deliver unparalleled content choices at affordable prices to Indian viewers and the Indian diaspora globally.”