The new entity will have broadcast rights for the majority of Indian sporting events, including the most popular cricket tournaments;
The merger between Disney and Reliance Industries has been provisionally approved by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The deal, worth around $8.5 billion, in which billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries will hold a majority stake, will create India’s largest entertainment player and compete with Sony, Netflix and Amazon.
The new entity will have broadcast rights to most of India’s sporting events, including the most popular and coveted cricket tournaments. The merger is reportedly expected to be completed within the next six months and will be chaired by Mukesh Ambani’s wife, Nita Ambani. The deal is “subject to compliance with voluntary amendments,” India’s competition watchdog said in a press release on Wednesday. It had previously raised concerns about the control the merger would give the two companies over broadcast rights to cricket, the country’s most popular sport, which has a huge fan base.
To push through the merger, the two companies made concessions, including a commitment not to raise advertising rates unreasonably for streaming cricket matches and to sell seven to eight non-sports TV channels, a source familiar with the matter said. The merger will create India’s largest entertainment player, which will compete with Sony, Netflix and Amazon with 120 TV channels and two streaming services.
India, the world’s most populous country with an estimated 1.4 billion people, is a cricket fanatic. Reliance and Disney have spent about $9.5 billion in recent years for television and streaming rights to the world’s richest cricket tournament, the Indian Premier League, International Cricket Council matches such as the One-Day and T20 World Cups, and matches organised by the Indian Cricket Board.
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Media and Entertainment: Disney-Reliance merger to create India’s largest entertainment player
