A year after announcing a strategic partnership with Bodhi Tree Systems, a platform promoted by James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems and Uday Shankar, Viacom18, a 51:49 joint venture of RIL’s TV18 and Paramount Global, said on Thursday that the deal worth Rs15,145 crore has been completed. RIL group entities have contributed Rs 10,839 crore in cash, while Bodhi Tree contributed Rs 4,306 crore to the deal.
Following the closure, which came after sanction by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai to the scheme of arrangement, RIL group entities will have a 60.37% stake in Viacom18, TV18 will have a 13.54 % stake, Bodhi Tree will have a 13.08% stake and Paramount Global will have a 13.01% stake in the company.
With the completion of the transaction, the JioCinema app will be transferred to Viacom18 in an attempt to strengthen its portfolio of offerings, which includes the suite of Colors TV channels and OTT platform Voot. Uday Shankar has been appointed to the board of Viacom18 and Paramount Global will continue to supply premium global content, Viacom18 said, as a shareholder.
Viacom18 is currently locked in a fierce battle for viewership of the Indian Premier League with rival Disney-Star. Viacom18 is streaming the IPL for free this year on the JioCinema app. It is also expected to ramp up its investment in sports and entertainment broadcasting, especially on digital platforms, as the media landscape evolves with an increase in digital viewership, said experts.Viacom18 had bought the streaming rights for the IPL in an e-auction process last year for `23,758 crore (for the 2023-27 media cycle), signalling its intent to go big on the digital medium. Disney-Star had bought the IPL television rights for the same period for Rs 23,575 crore.