Reliance and Disney Star have sign a non-binding agreement in London last week. The mega-merger between Reliance and Disney will be finalise in February 2024, as per agreement.
As Reliance continues to push for the merger to be finalise in January itself, but there are still many details to iron out.
This non-binding agreement was sing after months of negotiating between Mukesh Ambani’s close aid Manoj Modi and Disney’s Kevin Mayer, a former executive brought to the company in 2023.
It is expect that the Reliance-Disney merger could change the viewing experience in India altogether, especially when it come’s to the country’s most watches sport, cricket.
Disney, Reliance Sign Non-binding Agreement for India Media Operations Merger: Report
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Important Points to know about the Reliance-Disney Star Merger Deal
- Reliance and Disney Star’s deal is expect to the biggest entertainment merger India has ever seen.
- This merger entity will be equally control by both the firms, with equal number of directors from Reliance and Disney.
- The main aim of the merger is the create a subsidiary of Viacom18 (own by Reliance), which will absorb Star India through a stock swap.
- Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance will be the majority shareholder in this entity, set to own 51% stake while Walt Disney Co. will own 49%.
- Reliance’s OTT platform Jio Cinema and Disney + Hotstar are also expect to be a part of the deal.
- This merger is set to uplift Hotstar as it continues to get weighed down by losses.
- Both Reliance and Disney Star are looking to make an investment of over $1.5 billion into the deal, under which Mukesh Ambani’s firm will gain distribution control of Star India’s channels.
- Reliance-Disney deal will expand beyond TV channels and OTT platforms, focusing also on their power of advertising especially during the cricket season in India.
- Disney Star show keen interest in the deal because of the bidding wars between them and Reliance over cricket streaming rights.
- The US-based firm was also looking to improve its presence in India.
- Reliance will be the controlling party in the merger, Disney is expect to benefit greatly through the deal as since its TV channels have turning a profit in India, the same cannot be said for its other companies.
- It is expect that Akash Ambani will be among the board of directors.
- Other top contender for the seat is Uday Shankar of Bodhi Tree, which holds the largest shares in Viacom18 after Reliance.
- As not much is known about the new entity to be form after the merger, it is expect that its prime competition will be streaming services like Netflix and Amazon.
