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Nita Ambani, chairperson of Reliance Foundation, and Akash Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm, have joined the board of Viacom18, owned by Reliance Industries (RIL) and Bodhi Tree Systems, said people familiar with the matter. The appointments come as Viacom18 nears the final stages of its merger with Walt Disney’s Star India. The board restructuring marks a crucial step towards the consolidation of these two media giants.
Joining the Ambanis on the Viacom18 board are James Murdoch, co-promoter of Bodhi Tree Systems, and Mohammed Ahmed Al-Hardan, head of technology, media, and telecom at the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), a key investor in Bodhi Tree, the people said, adding, Al-Hardan has joined the Viacom18 board as a Bodhi Tree representative.
In addition, Jyoti Deshpande, president, media & content business at RIL, and Shuva Mandal, partner at Anagram Partners have also joined the board.
As of March 31, Viacom18 had six directors: Adil Zainulbhai, Uday Shankar, Madhusudana Sivaprasad Panda, Rahul Joshi, Alexander J Berkett, and Priyanka Chaudhary. Berkett is likely to leave the board as Paramount Global has sold its 13% stake in Viacom18 to RIL for Rs 4,286 crore. Star India had four directors: Atul Agarwal, Rishi Kanwarjeet Gaind, Gaurav Banerjee, and Gurjeev Singh Kapoor. Banerjee has since joined Sony Pictures Networks India as MD and CEO.
After the merger is completed, a new board will be appointed with representatives from both Star and Viacom18. The merged Star-Viacom18 board is likely to have 10 seats, with RIL expected to nominate six members, Walt Disney three, and Bodhi Tree one, the people said. Viacom18 has already initiated the formal process of transferring its TV channel licences to Star India by applying to the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB), with approval expected soon, the people added.
RIL didn’t respond to ET’s email queries. Under the merger scheme approved by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Viacom18 will first transfer its assets to its wholly-owned subsidiary, Digital18, which will then transfer them to Star India in return for shares in the latter, effectively merging the operations of both companies under a unified structure.
As part of the post-merger structure, Nita Ambani is set to assume the role of chairperson of the newly-formed entity, while Uday Shankar, co-promoter of Bodhi Tree Systems and a veteran media executive, will take on the role of vice-chairperson.
This merger, expected to reshape the Indian media landscape, has already received conditional approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI), subject to fulfilment of certain requirements.
However, the merger will only come into full effect after the boards of both Star India and Viacom18 agree upon and finalise an official effective date.
The merger will create an $8.5 billion media giant with a strong presence across TV and digital. It is expected to bring cost and revenue synergies across content, manpower, technology, and monetisation.
Media Partners Asia had earlier predicted that the Star-Viacom18 merger would generate $2.8 billion in revenue and an Ebitda loss of $200 million on a pro forma basis in FY24. The merged entity will have a profitable entertainment business and loss-making sports and streaming businesses.
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