Reliance Industries, along with other investors – notably James Murdoch and Uday Shankar – plan to invest over ₹12,000 crore in the entertainment and sports broadcasting business, responding to an industry consolidation triggered by the Zee-Sony merger. Murdoch, son of media baron Rupert Murdoch, and Shankar, former Star & Disney India chairman, plan to acquire nearly 40% stake in Viacom18, said highly placed sources close to the transaction.
ViacomCBS, which owns 49% stake in Viacom18, is likely to sell a small part of its stake and get diluted to about 10%, while Reliance Industries-owned TV18 will continue to hold a majority stake, said one of the sources quoted above.
The deal will include primary and secondary infusion of over ₹12,000 crore in Viacom18 from the investors at a valuation of around $4 billion (₹30,000 crore), one of the persons told ET. The bulk of the investment is likely to be by way of primary infusion of funds. Besides the Murdoch-Shankar duo – who are coming in as strategic investor – a few financial investors may also buy stakes.
‘Deal could be Finalised in 2-3 Weeks’
“There is no bigger name in the Indian M&E industry than Uday Shankar. He has built Star India and is known for taking big, bold bets. Viacom18 needs such a strong driver to compete in a market that will otherwise see a duopoly between Star & Disney India and Sony-ZEE once they merge,” said a top executive at a consulting firm. “The timing of his entry makes sense as all the major sporting rights are coming up for auction and Viacom18 has just started building its sports business.”
The company has already picked up the media rights of a clutch of sporting properties, including the NBA (National Basketball Association), FIFA World Cup 2022, Italy’s popular football league Serie A, Spanish football league La Liga, French football league Ligue 1, ATP Masters (tennis) and Abu Dhabi T10 (cricket). Incidentally, Shankar and Kukreja had built the sports business of Star India (now Star & Disney India)
