The Massive RIL-Disney Media Company will Likely be Ready Next Week

According to people with knowledge, the $8.5 billion merger between Reliance Industries' (RIL) Viacom18 and Walt Disney's Star India, the biggest in its industry, will wrap up on Monday, ending a nearly year-long process, FE has learned. Following confidential negotiations between the two parties in London in December 2023, the merger—which would comprise more than 100 channels and two streaming platforms—was initially revealed in February of this year. Viacom18 did not respond to an email until it was time to go to print.

Sources claim that following a board meeting that Nita Ambani would chair, the merger's conclusion will be revealed. Uday Shankar, a media veteran and co-founder of Bodhi Tree Systems, will serve as vice-chairman of the combined company, which will be known as Star India. The united company will be owned by Reliance to the tune of 56%, with Disney retaining 37% and Bodhi Tree Systems holding 7%.

According to sources, Kiran Mani and Kevin Vaz, who are now Viacom18's CEOs of the digital and broadcast clusters, respectively, will become co-CEOs of the combined company. Mani, a former Google employee, will head the digital and sports division, while Vaz, a former Disney Star employee, will head the broadcast and entertainment division.

According to industry insiders, the merger will result in a combined workforce of about 8,000 workers; however, headcount will probably be streamlined to remove redundant positions and redundancies. K Madhavan, the president and country manager of Disney Star, and Sajith Sivanandan, the leader of Disney+ Hotstar, have already resigned. There will probably be more exits in the future.

In the domestic media sector, where competitors Zee and Sony just canceled their $10 billion merger proposal, all eyes will be on how the combined company will maneuver.

The merger of Viacom18, Digital18, and Star India was allowed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on August 28 after voluntary changes by the firms were made.

This involved selling off about seven networks, including regional Bengali, Marathi, and Kannada channels whose market shares above the 35–40% barrier. Additionally, the two parties have committed to refraining from exaggerating the costs of TV and internet streaming advertisements. For the duration of the current rights, they have also decided not to combine TV and over-the-top (OTT) advertising spots for cricketing rights owned by the Indian Premier League (IPL), the International Cricket Council (ICC), and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).