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Reliance and Disney Complete India Media Merger Valued at $8.5 Billion

Reliance and Disney completed an India media joint venture in November 2024. The $8.5 billion figure was a post-money valuation excluding synergies, and Reliance controlled the venture at closing.
From TheFinanceBase Team3 min to read
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Reliance Industries and Disney completed their India media merger on 14 November 2024, combining Viacom18’s media and JioCinema businesses with Star India in a joint venture controlled by Reliance. The companies put the venture’s post-money valuation at ₹70,352 crore (about US$8.5 billion), excluding synergies.

What does the Reliance–Disney merger mean?

It was a joint venture combining major Indian television, streaming, entertainment and sports assets—not a cash purchase of Disney’s entire global business. The companies brought Viacom18’s media operations and JioCinema together with Star India. Disney also said it would provide content under a license to the venture. Reliance committed ₹11,500 crore (about US$1.4 billion) for growth capital.

The combination brought together familiar brands: Star and Colors on television, and JioCinema and Hotstar in streaming. The assets and business lines were combined under the transaction; that did not mean every brand or service immediately became one product.

How much was the Reliance–Disney merger worth?

Reliance and Disney stated a value of ₹70,352 crore, approximately US$8.5 billion, on a post-money basis. The stated valuation explicitly excluded synergies—the projected gains from combining businesses—so it should not be described as including those anticipated gains. Reliance’s separate ₹11,500 crore growth investment was part of the announced transaction terms, not the same figure as the venture’s valuation.

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At completion, Reliance also gave a pro forma estimate of approximately ₹26,000 crore (about US$3.1 billion) in combined revenue for the fiscal year ended March 2024. That was an estimate for the businesses on a combined basis, not audited revenue earned by the merged venture after closing.

Who owns and controls the merged media company?

At closing, the joint venture’s ownership was:

Owner Stake at closing
Reliance Industries Limited 16.34%
Viacom18 46.82%
The Walt Disney Company 36.84%

Although Reliance Industries held 16.34% directly, the companies said Reliance controlled the venture at closing. The ownership percentages are not the same as the control relationship: Viacom18 held the largest stated individual stake, while Reliance was identified as the controlling party.

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When did the Reliance–Disney merger complete?

The transaction moved from announcement to regulatory approval and then completion:

  • 28 February 2024 — announced: Reliance and Disney announced binding definitive agreements for the combination and its proposed ownership structure.
  • 27 August 2024 — CCI approval: The Competition Commission of India approved the combination subject to voluntary modifications. The Government of India publicized the approval on 28 August and said a detailed order would follow; the release did not itself set out every modification.
  • 14 November 2024 — effective: The companies announced completion after approvals from the CCI, the National Company Law Tribunal in Mumbai and other regulatory approvals. The merger became effective on this date.

The distinction matters: the February announcement described an agreed plan, while the November announcement confirmed a completed transaction.

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What happened to JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar?

At completion, JioCinema and Hotstar were among the digital businesses brought together. In Reliance’s FY2024–25 reporting, the company said JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar had been integrated into a unified streaming service, JioHotstar. This later platform integration is a separate milestone from the merger’s effective date of 14 November 2024.

What scale did the companies report at completion?

Reliance’s 14 November 2024 completion announcement described the combined business as having over 100 television channels, producing more than 30,000 hours of television entertainment annually, and having over 50 million aggregate subscriptions across JioCinema and Hotstar. These are company-reported figures from the completion announcement, not current audience or subscriber counts.

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What do Reliance’s later financial figures show?

Reliance’s FY2024–25 annual report reported ₹17,762 crore in revenue from operations and ₹1,833 crore in EBITDA for its media and entertainment segment. JioStar was included in those figures only for the period from 14 November 2024 through 31 March 2025, so they are not full-year standalone results for the merged company.

The same annual report cited an EY-FICCI estimate that India’s media and entertainment sector grew 3.3% year on year to ₹2.5 trillion in 2024. Reliance also reported a 34% share of television entertainment and more than 85% of sports viewership in its FY2024–25 reporting. Those are company-reported claims; the cited material does not establish their measurement methodology or make them a measure of the merger’s causal effect.

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