Nita Ambani set to lead Mukesh Ambani's Rs 70000 crore business as...

Nita Ambani, wife of billionaire and Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani, is set to head the joint venture of Walt Disney Co. and Reliance Industries. The duo has announced to merge India media operations to create Rs 70,000 crore business. Nita will be the chairperson of the JV, with Uday Shankar as vice chairperson.

Under the deal, Reliance and its affiliates will hold 63.16 per cent in the combined entity that will house two streaming services and 120 television channels. Disney will hold the remaining 36.84 per cent. The transaction values the joint venture at Rs 70,352 crore (USD 8.5 billion) on a post-money basis, excluding synergies. "As part of the transaction, the media undertaking of Viacom18 will be merged into Star India Private Limited (SIPL) through a court-approved scheme of arrangement," the company said. Reliance has also agreed to invest at closing Rs 11,500 crore into the joint venture.  

Disney + Hotstar has seen its paid subscriber base decline from around 55 million to about 40 million in the first quarter of FY24 because of Reliance's Jio Cinema winning exclusive rights for live sports. The combined entity will have the largest OTT subscriber base.

The JV will have over 750 million viewers across India and will also cater to the Indian diaspora across the world. The JV will be one of the leading TV and digital streaming platforms for entertainment and sports content in India.

(With inputs from PTI)

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