India's Competition Watchdog Conditionally Approves Disney India, Reliance Industries JV

By Najat Kantouar

India's competition watchdog conditionally approved the proposed $8.5 billion merger between Reliance Industries and Disney India's media business.

The India Competition Commission said Wednesday that it approved the joint venture subject to certain voluntary modifications, which it didn't disclose.

On Feb. 28 Disney agreed to form a joint venture combining its Star India business with Reliance's Viacom18 Media Private, an Indian media company.

The U.S. entertainment giant is set to own nearly 37% of the JV while Viacom18 will own almost 47%. Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries agreed to invest $1.4 billion into the JV and will own more than 16% of it.

Disney said at the time that it might also contribute additional media assets to the JV, which will have over 750 million viewers across India an also cater to the Indian diaspora across the world. Exclusive rights to distribute Disney films and productions in India will also be granted.

Write to Najat Kantouar at najat.kantouar@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 28, 2024 08:58 ET (12:58 GMT)

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