Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and Disney, two major companies have signed a non-binding agreement to move ahead with the merger plans. Disney Star (Disney's Indian unit) plans to merge operations with RIL. The majority stake of 51% in the merged entity will be owned by RIL and the remaining 49% will be held by Disney Star. If the deal goes through, it will be the country's largest media and entertainment deal. All the necessary regulatory approvals are expected to come by February 2024. However, as per an ET report, RIL is trying to close the deal faster in January.
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Disney Star runs the Disney+ Hotstar platform in India. The platform had to suffer the big blow that JioCinema gave by acquiring the rights to many HBO shows and sports streaming which was offered to the customers for free. Major leagues and tournaments such as the IPL (Indian Premier League), FIFA World Cup and many movie titles offered for free to the customers meant no more subscriptions for Disney+ Hotstar.
In fact, Jio removed all its Disney+ Hotstar mobile plans as well until recently it brought them back to capitalise on the Cricket World Cup 2023 viewership. JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar are two of the largest OTT (over-the-top) platforms in the country and a merger of their parent companies will unlock greater value for the merged entity in the Indian market.
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A merger would also mean fierce competition for other entertainment platforms. But mostly, it will be a great thing for Disney, which saw its net profit in India for FY23 going down 31% at Rs 1,272 crore. Disney+ Hotstar's loss at the same time doubled to Rs 748 crore, even though its revenues went up. If the merger finally goes through, both companies will benefit from their existing partnerships with the ecosystem players and will bring a lot of value to the table for each other.
