In a historic deal to change the landscape of media in India, Reliance Industries Limited and The Walt Disney Co. have signed a deal to merge their media business in India. According to the deal, the media unit of Reliance, Viacom18, will own 61% of the merger, with Disney owning the rest. According to sources, Disney has sold around 61% of its business in India at an evaluation of $3.9 billion to Reliance Industries Limited.
The deal between Disney and Reliance has not been made public yet, but people expect an official announcement in April next month. For now, employees of Disney and Viacom18 have denied to comment on the deal.
This is not the first time a big-time entertainment company is looking for a merger in India. Recently, Japan’s Sony and India’s ZEE were in talks about a merger deal, but the deal fell apart after disagreements over leadership roles in the merger.
Disney has been looking for options for its business in India after the IPL deal fell apart in 2023 due to Reliance bidding higher than Disney for IPL broadcasting rights. Initially, the media giant was looking to sell its business in India outright but settled with a merger. This deal between India’s biggest media company and the world’s biggest media company is sure to change the landscape of Indian media.
