Reliance intends to complete its merger with Disney's India Division in Q3

The merger of Reliance Industries' media holdings with the India division of global media firm Walt Disney is anticipated to be completed by the end of the third quarter of this fiscal year, according to a regulatory filing by billionaire Mukesh Ambani's organization. The fair-trade regulator CCI has already approved the merger of Viacom 18 and Star India, and the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has sanctioned the scheme.

"The companies are in the process of obtaining other requisite approvals for the completion of the transaction, and the transaction closer is expected in 3Q FY 25," Reliance Industries stated on Monday in its quarterly earnings report.

The NCLT has already approved the merger of Reliance group-controlled media properties, TV18 Broadcast and E18, with Network18 Media & Investments, which went into effect on October 3, according to the statement. On September 27, the government approved the transfer of licenses for non-news and current affairs TV stations held by Reliance Industries' media subsidiaries to Star India.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, has approved the transfer of licenses for non-news and current affairs TV channels held by Viacom18 Media Private Limited to Star India, according to an order dated September 27.

Viacom18 is the holding company that controls the media and entertainment businesses of billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries and Bodhi Tree Systems. Both parties are in the last stages of the merger, making changes to the firm in accordance with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) guidelines.

On August 30, the NCLT authorized the merger of Viacom18 Media and Digital 18 Media, which own Reliance Industries' media and entertainment holdings, with Star India.

The concept suggested transferring and vesting the Media Operations Undertaking from Viacom 18 and Jio Cinema into Digital18, a subsidiary of Viacom 18. This would be followed by the "demerger, transfer, and vesting of the V18 Undertaking from Digital 18 into Star India".

The merger of Reliance Industries' media businesses and The Walt Disney Company's India business will result in the country's largest media empire, worth more than Rs 70,000 crore.

At the time, the CCI stated that it had approved the "proposed combination involving Reliance Industries Ltd, Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd, Digital18 Media Ltd, Star India Pvt Ltd and Star Television Productions Ltd, subject to the compliance of voluntary modifications" .

Viacom18 is part of the RIL group, while The Walt Disney Company owns 100% of Star India. Walt Disney indirectly owns Star Television Productions, a firm formed in the British Virgin Islands. However, the CCI did not disclose the two parties' voluntary revisions to the original agreement.

According to the arrangement, Mukesh Ambani's RIL and its affiliates would own 63.16 percent of the combined firm, which will include two streaming services and 120 television channels.

Walt Disney will own the remaining 36.84% ownership in the combined organization, which will be India's largest media company.

Reliance Industries has also agreed to invest almost Rs 11,500 crore in the joint venture, giving it the muscle to compete with rivals such as Japan's Sony and Netflix. Nita Ambani, the wife of billionaire and RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani, will lead the joint venture, with Uday Shankar serving as vice-chairman.