Reliance Disney Star Deal is currently being finalized. Reliance has reportedly signed a non-binding agreement with Disney Star in London. The Mukesh Ambani group has finalized the deal that will take effect from February 2024. Reliance is keen to push the deal by January 2024 itself some issues need to be looked into before finalizing the deal. There are reports that a non-binding agreement was signed by Ambani’s close confidant Manoj Modi and Disney’s Kevin Mayer in London. The purpose of the deal is to change the viewing experience with special importance to Cricket. Here are the top key Takeaways of Reliance Disney Star Deal.
Reliance Disney Star Deal to cut costs
The purpose of the Reliance – Disney deal is to create a subsidiary of Viacom18, which will absorb the properties of Star India via a stock swap. While Reliance holds 51% stake, there are reports that Disney will own 49% of the merged entity. In addition to Television channels, OTT platforms like JioCinema and Disney+Hotstar will also be part of the deal. The deal will boost Hotstar by cutting down losses.
Complete Control
There are reports that both companies will pump over $1.5 billion into the deal and Ambani’s will have complete control over the distribution of Star India’s channels. This includes Asianet, Asianet Movies, Asianet Plus, Vijay TV, and much more.
Reliance Disney Star Deal before IPL 2024
Reliance is keen to finalize the deal before the upcoming IPL 2024. The deal will extend beyond TV channels and OTT platforms with focus of advertising. Disney Star has shown special interest in the deal because it will ultimately end bidding wars. Disney is also planning to improve its presence in India with this deal.
There are unconfirmed rumors that Akash Ambani will be the board of directors in addition to Uday Shankar of Bodhi Tree. Uday holds the largest stake in Viacom18 after Reliance.
We don’t know about the future of television channels like Asianet and Vijay TV that has a strong user base in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It looks like Reliance will continue to let the channels to work as usual. There is a possibility that they will add Reliance’s Viacom18 exclusive logo without any major changes to the core content.
