Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries yesterday said it has completed the merger of its media assets with the India business of global media house Walt Disney and formed a joint venture with a valuation of over Rs 70,000 crore (approx. $ 8.5 billion).

The JV will be one of the largest media and entertainment companies in India with a combined revenue of approximately Rs 26,000 crore and will be led by Nita Ambani as its chairperson, according to a joint statement. Uday Shankar will be the vice-chairperson of the merged entity, which will likely have a new name that reflects both the current ownership and legacy.

The venture, formed after the merger of the media and JioCinema businesses of Viacom18 into Star India, “has become effective”, the statement said. It has allotted shares to Viacom18 and RIL as consideration for the assets and cash, respectively.

The JV will be spearheaded by three CEOs who will lead the company into a new era of ambition and disruption.

Kevin Vaz — a former Disney India exec who joined Viacom18 mid 2023 as CEO of broadcast business — will head the joint venture’s entertainment organisation across platforms. Kiran Mani will take charge of the combined digital organization. Sanjog Gupta will lead the combined sports organisation.

“Together, they will leverage their unique strengths to cultivate a bold, transformative vision that challenges the status quo and sets new standards in the industry,” the joint statement said.

RIL has invested Rs. 11,500 crore ($ 1.4 billion) into the JV for its growth. The JV has allotted shares to Viacom18 and RIL as consideration for the assets and cash, respectively.

The JV is controlled by RIL and owned 16.34 percent by RIL, 46.82 percent by Viacom18 and 36.84 percent by Disney.

In a separate transaction, RIL has bought out Paramount Global’s entire stake of 13.01 percent in Viacom18 for Rs. 4,286 crore. As a result, Viacom18 is owned 70.49 percent by Reliance, 13.54 percent by Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.  and 15.97 percent by Bodhi Tree Systems, on a fully-diluted basis. Viacom18 as a corporate brand name is expected to cease, industry sources said.

The new entity will be home to some iconic and engaging media brands in India across TV and digital platforms. The combination of ‘Star’ and ‘Colors’ on the television side and ‘JioCinema’ and ‘Hotstar’ on the digital front will provide an extensive choice of content across entertainment and sports to viewers in India and globally.

The JV will operate over 100 TV channels and production capability of 30,000+ hours of TV entertainment content annually. The JioCinema and Hotstar digital platforms have an aggregate subscription base of over 50 million. The JV holds a portfolio of sports rights across cricket, football and other sports.

However, it’s still not clear whether both the streaming platforms — JioCinema and Hotstar — will continue to operate independently or be merged some time in future. Media reports have indicated that the new owners are likely to shift all sports properties onto Hotstar.

The formation of the JV will herald a new era in India’s entertainment industry for consumers. This unique joint venture of Reliance and Disney brings together the companies’ content creation and curation prowess, world-class digital streaming capabilities along with a digital first approach that will help the JV deliver unparallelled content choices at affordable prices to Indian viewers and the Indian diaspora globally, the joint statement said.

While the Competition Commission of India approved the merger, subject to certain voluntary modifications, the transaction has been approved by anti-trust authorities in the EU, China, Turkey, South Korea and Ukraine.

Speaking about the JV, RIL CMD Mukesh D Ambani said in a statement, “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. I am very excited about the JV’s future.”

“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 of 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, Co-Founder of Bodhi Tree Systems, an investor in the joint venture, said, “James and I are excited to be partners in this journey to disrupt the media and entertainment industry in India. The new organisation is committed to deliver an unprecedented level of creativity, disruption and new age consumer experience.