Reliance and Disney Complete Merger to Create a Rs. 70,352 Crore Joint Venture

Reliance Industries Limited announced the completion of a merger with the India business of global media house Walt Disney on Thursday. With this, Viacom 18 Media Private Limited, Reliance Industries Limited, and The Walt Disney Company announced the formation of a joint venture. The joint venture was formed after the approval by the National Company Law Tribuna (NCLT) Mumbai, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), and other regulatory authorities. Reliance also announced that the transactional value of the joint venture was evaluated at Rs. 70,352 crores on a post-money basis.

Reliance, Disney Complete Merger

In a press release, Reliance announced the completion of the merger with Disney following approvals from regulatory bodies. This comes after the two entities announced a strategic partnership to form a joint venture in February. Reliance Industries has invested Rs. 11,500 crores into the joint venture and holds 16.34 percent of the stake in the company. Reliance's step-down unit Viacom 18, which is also a partner in the joint venture, holds a 46.82 percent stake in the venture while Disney holds the rest of the 36.84 percent.

The joint venture will combine Star and Colors channels on the television side, while it will bring together JioCinema and Hotstar on the digital front. The joint venture will be headed by Nita Ambani, who will act as the Chairperson of the entity.

Highlighting the size of the joint venture, the press release claimed that it holds a combined revenue of approximately Rs. 26,000 crores for the fiscal year that ended in March 2024. Further, the joint venture will now operate more than 100 television channels that produce more than 30,000 hours of content annually.

On the digital front, Reliance claimed that JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar have an aggregate subscription base of more than 50 million, however, this does not account for any overlaps where a user subscribes to both platforms. Additionally, the joint venture also holds digital sports rights across cricket, football, and other sporting events.

Mukesh Ambani, the Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries said after the merger, “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.”