Nita Ambani will Lead the RIL and Disney Merger
By: Geetanjali
On Wednesday February 28, 2024 RIL (Reliance Industries Ltd.) and Walt Disney Co. merged their media operations in India combining 120 TV channels and two digital OTT platforms. In a bid to merge Viacom 18 which is owned by Reliance and Star India which is owned by Disney a $8.5 Billion Dollar pact has been signed.
After months of meetings and negotiations Viacom18 will own 46.8%, RIL will hold 16.3%, and collectively they will hold 63%, while Disney will hold full 37% stakes on behalf of Star India.
Nita Ambani philanthropist and wife of Mukesh Ambani Chairman of Reliance Industries limited will head the merger as the Chairperson along with Co-Founder of Bodhi Tree and a key investor in Viacom18 Uday Shankar as the Vice-Chairperson of the merged venture. Uday Shankar has also worked with Disney as the Chairperson of the Star India, after quitting Star India he Co-Founded Bodhi Tree with his business partner James Murdoch who is a British-American Business man.
RIL is also contemplating to acquire the shares held by Walt Disney’s in the Tata play’s which is majorly owned by the Tata Sons (50.2%) and rest shares are owned by Disney and Temasek. Considering that Tata Sons is planning to buy 30% shares of Walt Disney in Tata Play (is an Indian subscription based satellite service provider). This will increase Tata Sons stake from 50% to 80% which will make them the majority stakeholder in Tata Play.
It is said the unification of these media giants will have more than 750 million viewers all over India and Indian diaspora.
More than a choice to merge with RIL, this unification seems like a necessity for the Walt Disney Co.. After struggling for years in the OTT market in India due to the fast growing demand of the JioCinema which is owned by RIL.
With its no subscription fee policy, Reliance emerged as the direct competitor of the Disney, which also resulted in Disney Hotstar losing its IPL streaming rights to Reliance’s Jio Cinema in 2022. For a comeback in the Indian OTT market Disney was also required to stream ICC World Cup 2023 free on its OTT platform.
Apart from the Reliance- Disney merger, last month saw the unification of Japanese media giant Sony and the Indian ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEEL) in the Indian entertainment and media area which is worth $10 Billion.
