The government has approved the transfer of the license of non-news and current affairs TV channels of Viacom18, the media arm of billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, to Star India. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting approved the transfer on September 27, according to regulatory filings made by Reliance Industries and TV18 Broadcast. The government order states that this merger will be subject to the conditions prescribed by the Competition Commission of India. Viacom18 is a holding company that owns the media and entertainment businesses of Reliance Industries and Bodhi Tree Systems. Now, both the parties are in the final stages of merger, with certain adjustments being made to the business as per the directions of the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
NCLT approved the deal on August 30
On August 30, NCLT had approved the merger of Reliance Industries' media and entertainment assets Viacom18 and Digital 18 Media with Star India. Under this merger, it is proposed to transfer the media operations of Viacom 18 and Jio Cinema to Digital 18. Digital 18 is a subsidiary of Viacom18. After this, V18 will be separated from Digital 18 and included in Star India. This merger will create the country's largest media empire, which will be worth more than Rs 70 thousand crore.
Reliance's stake in the combined entity will be 63 percent.
Viacom18 is part of the Reliance Group, and SIPL is wholly owned by The Walt Disney Company. STPL, a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, is indirectly owned by Walt Disney. However, CCI did not disclose the voluntary amendments to the original deal made by both the parties. Under the deal, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance and its partners will hold 63.16 per cent stake in the combined entity, which will have two streaming services and 120 television channels.
Walt Disney will hold the remaining 36.84 percent stake in the combined entity, which will also be India's largest media house. Reliance Industries has also agreed to invest about Rs 11,500 crore in the joint venture to take on rivals like Netflix and Japan's Sony. Nita Ambani, wife of Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani, will head the joint venture, while Uday Shankar will be its vice-chairman.
Also read :-
The magic of 'Stree 2' worked even before Devra, it earned so much on the 44th day
Comments are closed.