bodhi tree: James Murdoch, Uday Shankar’s Bodhi Tree to invest Rs 13,500 crore in Viacom18

James Murdoch and former Star & Disney India head Uday Shankar-backed Bodhi Tree Programs is about to lift and make investments Rs 13,500 crore in Viacom18, a 51:49 three way partnership between Reliance Industries-owned TV18 and Paramount World (previously often known as ViacomCBS).

Reliance Tasks & Property Administration Companies Restricted, an entirely owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries (RIL), will even make investments Rs 1,645 crore in Viacom18.

Moreover, RIL will switch its JioCinema OTT app to Viacom18, the businesses stated in a press release on Wednesday.

ET first reported on January twenty seventh that RIL was in talks with Murdoch and Shankar, to lift over Rs 12,000 crore for Viacom18.

Bodhi Tree Programs will lead a fund elevate with a consortium of buyers, which can assist Viacom18 to bid aggressively for the upcoming media rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL), insiders stated.

Whereas the businesses didn’t disclose the shareholding sample submit the completion of the deal, ET has realized that RIL will maintain majority stake, whereas Bodhi Tree can have near 40% stake within the firm. Paramount World’s stake will cut back to shut to 10%.

The assertion confirmed that Paramount will proceed as a shareholder of Viacom18 and can proceed to produce Viacom18 its premium world content material.

Bodhi Tree, a newly fashioned platform between Murdoch’s Lupa Programs and Shankar, the previous president of The Walt Disney Firm Asia Pacific and former chairman of Star and Disney India, will leverage the companions’ observe report of constructing iconic companies and shaping the media panorama in India and globally.

ET earlier reported that Qatar Funding Authority (QIA), the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar, is an investor in Bodhi Tree Programs.

“James and Uday’s observe report is unmatched,” stated Mukesh D Ambani, CMD, RIL. “For over twenty years, they’ve performed an plain position in shaping the media ecosystem in India, Asia, and around the globe. We’re very excited to accomplice with Bodhi Tree and lead India’s transition to a streaming-first media market. We’re dedicated to bringing the most effective media and leisure companies for Indian prospects by way of this partnership.”

Murdoch and Shankar stated within the assertion that they may not be extra happy to announce the brand new partnership. “Our ambition is to leverage expertise advances, significantly in cell, to offer significant options to satisfy on a regular basis media and leisure wants at scale. We search to reshape the leisure expertise throughout greater than 1 billion screens.”

Viacom18 owns 38 TV channels throughout 9 languages and a pan India presence.

The transaction is anticipated to shut inside six months and is topic to closing situations and requisite approvals.

PWC and BDO offered unbiased valuation of the JioCinema enterprise and Viacom18, whereas EY offered diligence companies to Bodhi Tree.