Forget Shark Tank India, Biggest Shark Reliance Cracks 4,256 Crore Deal For Viacom 18 After 70,000 Crore Disney Merger By Nita Ambani – Stats On 5 Best Deals
Reliance Industries Limited has previously done multi-billion deals for Viacom 18 and Jio Cinema. Bigger than all Shark Tank Deals!
Reliance Cracks A Deal Worth 4,256 Crore For Viacom 18. (Photo Credit – Instagram/IMDb)
Advertisement
In not a surprising turn of events, Reliance Industries Limited has cracked another multi-crore deal, increasing its stakes in Viacom 18 that it acquired last year. Paramount Pictures has sold its 13.01% equity in Viacom 18 to Reliance. The shares are worth $517 million, which amounts to around 4,256 crore.
The media house owns a production house and a distribution channel apart from running around 40 television channels, including MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and Colors, amongst others. These channels are predominantly owned by RIL (Reliance Industries Limited).
A week ago, Bloomberg reported that Paramount Global is looking to ease its debts and maintain its balance sheet by offloading shares in its joint venture with Reliance. The deal has finally been signed between the two companies, and it is, of course, a better and more surprising transfer of equities than any Shark Tank India deal you would have witnessed.
Also, thanks to Shark Tank, now every common Indian knows the meaning of equity, share, post-money, valuation, and other business terms that might have been alien to a common mind a few years ago.
So, while Paramount Pictures has taken an exit from Viacom 18 by selling its share to Reliance, we decided to decode the best three deals by the biggest Shark in India currently – Reliance.
1. Acquiring Viacom 18!
In 2017, Reliance acquired Viacom 18 in a 68 crore deal. After the merger, major decisions were taken. The first of which was unifying Voot with Reliance‘s new OTT platform, Jio Cinema, which was a well-thought-out movie and benefitted a lot from Bigg Boss streaming on Jio Cinema.
2. Divesting 100% Stake In Zee Group
In 2017, RIL divested its 100% stake in Subhash Chandra’s media group, Zee Enterprises. While a 100% stake in television broadcasting was divested, another 49% in the radio business was added to the deal as well. In all, the deal was worth an enterprise value of a whopping 1900 crore.
3. India’s Cricket Matches – $714 Million Deal!
In 2023, Viacom 18 won the digital and TV rights for all of India’s domestic cricket matches for five years. BCCI e-auctioned the rights on August 23, and major buyers who were competing were Viacom 18, Disney Star, and Sony Pictures. This was close to a 6,000 crore deal for around 88 matches. However, in 2022, Disney won the auction and paid $944 million (almost 7800 crore) for 108 matches. While Viacom 18 won the auction in 2023, the Indian matches will now stream on Viacom 18 channels and Jio Cinema till September 2028.
4. Reliance-Disney Merger Worth 70,000 Crore!
In what is being called the biggest media merger, RIL, along with Viacom 18, is ready to enter into a merger with Disney’s Star India in a deal that is estimated to be worth $8.5 billion (close to 70,000 crore) post-money, as per a Variety report. RIL will own 16.3% stakes in this merger, while Viacom 18 will acquire 46.8%, leaving Disney with only 36.8% stakes in the company. The report suggests that Reliance will further invest close to 11,000 crore after the merger, and Nita Ambani will lead this entity.
5. Buying Paramount Pictures Stakes
Finally, 13.01% of Paramount Pictures has been acquired by Viacom 18. Currently, Bodhi Tree also owns 15.97% of Viacom 18. A report by Variety states that selling its 13% stake in Viacom 18 will help it ease its debts. Paramount Pictures closed 2023 at a long-term debt of around $14.6 billion. However, the New York-based Biggie will continue licensing its content on Jio Cinema, Reliance’s OTT platform!
Well, when you Shark, then you Shark it like the Ambanis, we guess!
