Mumbai, April 27: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries on Wednesday said a consortium led by Bodhi Tree Systems will invest Rs 13500 crore in Viacom18 to form one of the largest TV and digital streaming companies in India. “Bodhi Tree Systems is leading a fund raiser with a consortium of investors to invest Rs 13,500 crore in Viacom18, to jointly build India’s leading entertainment platform and pioneer the Indian media landscape’s transformation to a ‘streaming-first’ approach,” the company said in a release issued here. Besides, Reliance Projects & Property Management Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries which has significant presence in television, OTT, distribution, content creation, and production services, will invest Rs 1,645 crore, it said. In addition, the popular JioCinema OTT app will be transferred to Viacom18. Viacom18 owns and operates the suite of Colors TV channels and OTT platform, VOOT. The company further said that Paramount Global, formerly known as ViacomCBS, will continue as a shareholder of Viacom18 and will continue to supply Viacom18 its premium global content. Speaking about the partnership, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, said, “James and Uday’s track record is unmatched. For over two decades, they have played an undeniable role in shaping the media ecosystem in India, Asia, and around the world. We are very excited to partner with Bodhi Tree and lead India’s transition to a streaming-first media market. We are committed to bringing the best media and entertainment services for Indian customers through this partnership.” Bodhi Tree Systems, a newly formed platform between Lupa Systems Founder and CEO James Murdoch and Uday Shankar, the former president of The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific and former Chairman of Star and Disney India, will leverage the partners’ shared track record of building iconic businesses and shaping the media landscape in India and globally, it added. “Our ambition is to leverage technological advances, particularly in mobile, to provide meaningful solutions to meet everyday media and entertainment needs at scale. We seek to reshape the entertainment experience across more than 1 billion screens,” Murdoch and Shankar said. Upon closing, Viacom18, Reliance, Bodhi Tree Systems and Paramount Global, will shape a vision, strategy, and execution for its businesses, building on the strong existing foundation, it said. The transaction is expected to close within six months and is subject to closing conditions and requisite approvals. Currently, Viacom18 has 38 channels across nine languages and a pan India presence. Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and Khaitan & Co provided legal advisory and documentation support to RPPMSL and Viacom18 while PWC and BDO provided independent valuation of the Jio Cinema business and Viacom18. Citi and HSBC acted as financial advisors to TV18 and RPPMSL respectively. AZB & Partners was the legal advisor to Bodhi Tree while EY provided diligence services to Bodhi Tree. JSA was the legal advisor to Paramount Global. (UNI)
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