India approves Disney-Reliance merger deal to create new media giant

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

India’s Competition Commission has approved Reliance Industries Limited’s (RIL) £6.43bn merger with key entertainment assets of The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) in India, subject to voluntary changes.

The deal, announced in February, will merge Viacom18’s assets from RIL with Star India Private Limited (SIPL), a Disney subsidiary.

Viacom18 is part of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s RIL group.

After the merger, SIPL will be a joint venture among RIL, Viacom18, and Disney subsidiaries, creating a new media giant in India.

The commission has yet to detail the terms of the modifications it is seeking, but has previously expressed concerns about the merged entity’s potential dominance in cricket broadcasting.

Disney and RIL competed fiercely in the recent bidding for multi-year IPL rights, driving the deal’s value to approximately $6bn. Cricket, India’s most popular sport, has provided a significant boost to subscriber numbers in the country for both the companies’ streaming platforms. Together, RIL and Disney hold a dominant position in Indian cricket broadcasting rights.

K K Sharma, a former head of mergers at the CCI, had previously said that the deal, if approved, would create “a big fish in the broadcasting market” which would practically be a “monopoly on cricket advertisement revenues”.

SIPL will contribute its TV broadcasting division, content production assets, streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar, and advertising operations to the merger. Star Television Productions Limited (STPL), a Disney entity based in the British Virgin Islands, will be included in the deal.

The merger, which also needs approval from the National Company Law Tribunal and shareholder votes, will significantly impact the Indian media landscape by combining major players and creating a substantial presence in TV and streaming services.

The merger will establish India’s largest entertainment entity, positioning it to compete with Sony, Netflix, and Amazon, with a portfolio of 120 TV channels and two streaming services.

The merger is expected to be finalised within the next six months and will reportedly be overseen by Nita Ambani, Mr Ambani’s wife.

Earlier, Bob Iger, the chief executive of The Walt Disney said: “India is the world’s most populous market, and we are excited for the opportunities that this joint venture will provide to create long-term value for the company.”

In February this year, Mr Ambani had hailed the merger as “a new era in the Indian entertainment industry,” and added that they are looking forward “to deliver unparalleled content at affordable prices to audiences across the nation”.