RIL, Disney Complete Rs 70,000-Crore Merger Of India Entertainment Business

The joint venture between Reliance Industries Ltd. and Walt Disney Co. for the merger of their entertainment business in India has come into effect, a joint release stated on Thursday.

The completion of the JV, named Star India Pvt., has been announced after the approval granted by the National Company Law Tribunal, the Competition Commission of India and other regulatory bodies over the past few months.

RIL has invested Rs 11,500 crore, or approximately $1.4 billion, into the JV for its growth, the release said. On a post-money basis, Star India is presently valued at Rs 70,352 crore, or around $8.5 billion.

RIL, along with its subsidiary Viacom18, hold the controlling stake in the JV. Out of the total shareholding, RIL owns 16.34%, Viacom18 owns 16.34%, and the remainder 36.84% is held by Disney.

Nita Ambani, the wife of RIL chief Mukesh Ambani, will chair the venture, and former Walt Disney executive Uday Shankar will serve as vice chairperson.

There will be three chief executive officers jointly leading the JV—Kevin Vaz, Kiran Mani and Sanjog Gupta. Vaz will be heading the entertainment platforms, Mani will oversee the combined digital product, and Gupta will lead the sports content division.

The completion of the JV results in the businesses of Disney India and Viacom18 to be merged into Star India Pvt. The amalgamated entity combines Star and Colors brand on the television side, and JioCinema and Hotstar on the digital front.

This will be "one of the largest media companies in India with pro-forma combined revenue of approximately Rs 26,000 crore for fiscal 2024", the release said.

"The JV operates over 100 TV channels and produces 30,000+ hours of TV entertainment content annually. The JioCinema and Hotstar digital platforms have an aggregate subscription base of over 50 million. The JV holds a portfolio of sports rights across cricket, football and other sports," it added.

Apart from the approval from Indian regulators, the merger has also received the nod of the antitrust authorities in the European Union, China, Turkey, South Korea and Ukraine.

Commenting on the JV's completion, Mukesh Ambani said, "Our deep creative expertise and relationship with Disney, along with our unmatched understanding of the Indian consumer will ensure unparalleled content choices at affordable prices for Indian viewers."

Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger said that by joining forces with RIL, "we are able to expand our presence in this important media market and deliver viewers an even more robust portfolio of entertainment, sports content, and digital services.”