Disney-Reliance $8.5 Billion Media Merger Closes, Creating Indian Entertainment Powerhouse

India‘s entertainment landscape shifted Thursday as Reliance Industries and Disney completed their long-awaited media merger, creating an Indian powerhouse valued at $8.5 billion. The deal combines Disney’s Star India with Reliance’s Viacom18 and streaming platforms JioCinema and Hotstar.

Nita M. Ambani will chair the joint venture, with media veteran Uday Shankar serving as vice chair. The merger received regulatory approvals from multiple jurisdictions, including India’s Competition Commission.

Reliance pumped $1.4 billion in growth capital into the venture, which will control over 100 TV channels and produce 30,000+ hours of annual content. The combined entity reported revenue of approximately $3.1 billion for the fiscal year 2024.

The ownership structure breaks down to Reliance Industries holding 16.34%, Viacom18 with 46.82%, and Disney maintaining 36.84%. In a separate transaction, Reliance acquired Paramount Global’s 13.01% stake in Viacom18 for about $507 million.

The joint venture’s leadership team includes Kevin Vaz heading entertainment, Kiran Mani leading digital operations, and Sanjog Gupta overseeing sports. The merged entity, which has a near stranglehold on rights to India’s biggest audience draw, cricket, boasts a combined digital subscription base exceeding 50 million across JioCinema and Hotstar platforms. The joint venture holds a portfolio of sports rights across cricket, football and other sports.

Mukesh D. Ambani, chair and managing director of Reliance Industries Limited, said: “With the formation of this JV, the Indian media and entertainment industry is entering a transformational era. 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.”

“This is an exciting moment for our two companies, as well as for India’s consumers, as we create one of the top entertainment entities in the country through this joint venture,” said Robert A. Iger, CEO, The Walt Disney Company. “By joining forces with Reliance, we are able to expand our presence in this important media market and deliver viewers an even more robust portfolio of entertainment, sports content, and digital services.”

Shankar added: “The new organization is committed to deliver an unprecedented level of creativity, disruption and new age consumer experience. As media consumption continues to move to an integrated TV-digital ecosystem, the merger of Viacom18 and Star India offers a unique opportunity to reorient the industry to better serve diverse cohorts of consumers across the country. Together, we aim to build India’s largest integrated media platform which will deliver unparalleled experiences in innovative and exciting ways.”