Reliance Industries and The Walt Disney Company have announced that the Viacom18-Star India merger is now complete.

The two media houses have got approvals from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Mumbai, Competition Commission of India (CCI) and other regulatory authorities.

Reliance Industries has invested INR 11,500 crore into the JV for its growth.  

The JV has allotted shares to Viacom18 and RIL as consideration for the assets and cash, respectively. The transaction values the JV at INR 70,352 crore. The JV is controlled by RIL and owned 16.34% by Reliance Industries, 46.82% by Viacom18 and 36.84% by Disney.

Nita Ambani will be the chairperson of the JV, with Uday Shankar as vice chairperson.

The JV will see the combination of Star and Colors on the TV entertainment side, Hotstar and JioCinema on the digital front, Star Sports and Sports18 on the sports TV channels front.

The JV will be spearheaded by three CEOs: Kevin Vaz will head the entertainment organisation across platforms. Kiran Mani will take charge of the combined digital organisation. Sanjog Gupta will lead the combined sports organisation. 

The JV operates over 100 TV channels and produces 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.

Apart from the CCI, the transaction has been approved by anti-trust authorities in the EU, China, Turkey, South Korea and Ukraine.

Mukesh Ambani, chairperson and MD, Reliance Industries, 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. I am very excited about the JV’s future and wish it all the success.”

Robert A Iger, CEO, The Walt Disney Company, said, “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.”

Uday Shankar, co-founder, Bodhi Tree Systems, added, “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. 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. 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.”

In a separate transaction, RIL has bought out Paramount Global’s entire stake of 13.01% in Viacom18 for INR 4,286 crore. As a result, Viacom18 is owned 70.49% by RIL, 13.54% by Network18 Media & Investments and 15.97% by Bodhi Tree Systems, on a fully-diluted basis.