Murdoch, Uday Shankar invest ₹13,500 crore in Reliance’s Viacom18
NEW DELHI: Reliance Industries Ltd and Viacom18 have entered into a partnership with Bodhi Tree Systems, an investment platform run by James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems and Uday Shankar, with an eye on bidding for the lucrative broadcast rights for the Indian Premier League cricket tournament.
Bodhi Tree Systems will lead an investment of ₹13,500 crore in Viacom18, giving it nearly 40% of the company as it aims to build India’s leading entertainment platform. James Murdoch, son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, is the former chief executive of 21st Century Fox Inc. and Shankar is the former president of the Walt Disney Co. APAC region.
Reliance Projects & Property Management Services Ltd, a unit of Reliance Industries, will invest ₹1,645 crore. In addition, the Jiocinema OTT app will be transferred to Viacom18, a statement from the company said. The transaction is expected to close within six months after regulatory approvals.
Viacom 18 is a joint venture between Reliance’s TV-18 and Viacomcbs, now called Paramount Global.
Reliance, Amazon and the Sony-zee combine have all signalled their intention to secure the broadcast rights of the IPL tournament, setting the stage for a keenly contested bidding round. Although it’s likely that Reliance, which owns the Mumbai
Indians IPL cricket team, will bid for the broadcasting rights through the new venture, it hasn’t said so formally.
Paramount Global, which owns TV networks and streaming services such as CBS, Showtime Networks, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon and MTV, will remain as a minority shareholder and supply Viacom18 with its global content. Viacomcbs owns 49% of Viacom18. In India, Viacom18 operates TV channels such as Colors, Rishtey, Cineplex, Colors regional bouquet and OTT platform Voot.
Viacom18 launched the Sports18 channel earlier this month. The channel is currently airing matches from the NBA (National Basketball Association), FIFA World Cup, and Laliga. But building a robust offering in cricket-crazy India will require the company to win broadcasting rights for properties such as the IPL.
The network named Anil Jayaraj as Ceo-sports to lead its foray into acquiring broadcasting rights and the monetization of sports properties. Jayaraj joined Viacom18 from Star Sports, where he was executive vice-president responsible for ad sales and global syndication.
In February, James Murdoch and Shankar announced the launch of Bodhi Tree, an investment platform backed by sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority. The new venture is designed to invest in media and consumer technology opportunities in southeast Asia, with a particular focus on India, the company had said.