NEW DELHI: Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) signed an agreement on Thursday to acquire a 13.01% equity stake in Viacom18 Media Private Limited (Viacom18) for a consideration of Rs 4,286 crore. Viacom 18 is currently owned by Paramount Global through its two subsidiaries. Viacom18 is a subsidiary of TV18 Broadcast Limited.
“A binding agreement has been entered between Reliance and two subsidiaries of Paramount Global to acquire a 13.01% equity stake (on a fully diluted basis) in Viacom 18 Media held by Paramount Global via two subsidiaries for an aggregate consideration of Rs 4,286 crore,” said RIL in an exchange filing.
Upon completion of the transaction, RIL’s stake in Viacom 18 will increase to 70.49% (on a fully diluted basis). Reliance clarified in a filing that this acquisition is not a related-party transaction and none of its affiliated groups have any interest in it.
As previously announced on February 28, RIL, Viacom18, and The Walt Disney Company (Disney) signed binding agreements to form a joint venture (JV) merging Viacom18’s businesses with Star India. The transaction involves merging Viacom18’s media operations into Star India Private Limited (SIPL) via a court-approved scheme of arrangement.