It's official! Reliance Industries has joined hands with Walt Disney to create a joint venture worth Rs. 70,352 crores. Here's how this JV could possibly dominate India's media business.
Mukesh Ambani is termed as one of India’s sharpest minds by many leading businesspeople and critics across the world. The Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries has proved the mettle of his vision time and again since 2002. The way Mukesh Ambani has transformed the image of his company, Reliance Industries and made it a household name across India is absolutely astonishing.
For instance, nearly half of Reliance’s revenue comes from the oil to chemical division, but the majority of the public associates Reliance with Jio, Jio Mart, Jio TV, Jio Cinema, Reliance Digital, Reliance Smart, Jio Music, Jio Money, Jio Saavn, Jio News, Reliance Trends, and many others, which have become a part of their lives. One of the biggest reasons behind the success of Reliance and so many other big conglomerates is that they build essential products and services that become a part of the general public’s everyday life.
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However, just when everyone thought that Reliance Industries had done it all, Mukesh Ambani cracked a major deal with Walt Disney, and it is going to change India’s media and entertainment sector forever. It was back in 2014 when Reliance Industries confirmed its strategic takeover of Network 18, and after years of strategies and emergence in the digital domain, it is now India’s largest media company. For the unversed, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited holds 75 percent share in Network 18 and Investments.
Almost two years ago, Mukesh Ambani revealed that Reliance Industries Limited owned a total of 72 renowned television channels that have a viewership of over 80 crore Indians.
Despite Dinsey Plus Hotstar’s massive dominance in the Indian media and entertainment industry, the way Mukesh Ambani’s Jio TV and Jio Cinema have made their presence heard is quite exceptional. While many years back, Dinsey Plus Hotstar and Jio TV were seen as arch-rivals, things have changed in the last 2-3 years, as Reliance was trying to make a deal with Walt Disney.
Mukesh Ambani’s Jio TV and Jio Cinema are eyeing to dominate the streaming and television services in India, but on February 28, 2024, the deal was officially announced, leaving the entire nation shocked.
According to the official statement of Reliance Industries’s Viacom18 and Walt Dinsey’s Star India, they will combine their businesses to form a joint venture (JV), which will be valued at 8.5 billion USD (Rs. 70,352 crores). Talking about the ownership distribution, Reliance Industries Limited will have 16.3 percent shares, 36.8 percent will be with Walt Dinsey, and Viacom18 will have the largest share of 46.8 percent.
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Not only this, but as per the joint statement by Disney and Reliance, the latter, led by Mukesh Ambani, will inject a sum of 1.4 billion USD (Rs. 11,500 crores) into this brand-new joint venture. With such a massive investment in an already mammoth joint venture, it clearly confirms that Mukesh Ambani is eyeing to build a media powerhouse that will dominate India.
The collaboration between Disney and Reliance means that their joint venture will offer over 120 channels, including Star India’s 70 and Viacom18’s 38 channels. Some of the big names include the likes of Colors, Star Plus, Star Gold, Star Sports, Sports 18, and many more.
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As per Reliance Industries Limited’s official statement, Mukesh Ambani’s wife, Nita Ambani will be the Chairperson of the joint venture (JV) created by Reliance and Disney. Uday Shankar has been appointed as Vice-chairperson, and he will be offering his impact strategies to the JV.
Over the years, Nita Ambani has proved the mettle of her business strategies by doing exceptional work in different departments of Reliance Industries Limited. That is why it is great to see Mukesh Ambani putting complete faith in his wife, Nita Ambani’s expertise and handing over the complete responsibility of a Rs. 70,352 crore joint venture to this talented, exceptionally skilled businesswoman.
According to Moneycontrol, Elara Capital’s senior vice-president, Karan Taurani talked about the possible impact of Reliance and Disney’s 8.5 billion USD deal in India’s media and entertainment industry. Karan Taurani mentioned that there’s a strong possibility that Dinsey and Reliance’s joint venture will have a monopoly in sports properties, which will create higher ad revenues.
For the unversed, apart from IPL, the combined entity of Dinsey and Reliance will feature major tournaments like Wimbledon, Pro Kabaddi League, BCCI domestic cricket, and many more. According to a report in Afaqs, the historic transaction is expected to be finalised in the last quarter of the 2024 or 2025 calendar year.
Well, with so much money involved and two big sharks coming together, it is definitely exciting to see how things are going to unfold in the coming years. What are your thoughts on Mukesh Ambani’s groundbreaking deal with Walt Disney? Let us know.
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