Disney-Reliance Deal: Mukesh Ambani's Reliance is all set to finalise a multibillion dollar deal with Walt Disney, reported Bloomberg. Reliance will be buying Disney's India Operations.
Once the deal is finalised Reliance will get a controlling stake in the Disney Star business, which has an estimated valuation of $10 billion while the US entertainment giant will end up holding a minority stake in the business. As per Bloomberg, Reliance views the assets at between $7 billion to $8 billion.
Also Read: Disney India in talks with Reliance for sale: Report
After the deal a few Reliance owned media units will merge with Disney Star. The acquisition is expected to be declared by the companies next month.
Though Disney Star has seen declining subscriber numbers after losing the IPL streaming rights, it hasn’t ceded the entire cricket business, securing the television rights through 2027. Last year it agreed to license the TV rights for International Cricket Council men’s matches to ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. for four years, with Disney+ Hotstar retaining the digital rights.
Meanwhile, JioCinema recorded a total of 32 million concurrent viewers in May for the IPL final which was free to watch. However after signing a multi-year pact to stream Warner Bros Discovery Inc.’s exclusive content in India, the platform has begun charging for those content