Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), Viacom18 and Bodhi Tree Systems — a joint platform of James Murdoch and Uday Shankar — are coming together to form one of the largest TV and digital streaming companies in India.
The strategic partnership will see Bodhi Tree Systems leading a fund raise with a consortium of investors to infuse Rs 13,500 crore into Viacom18. Reliance Projects and Property Management Services Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RIL, will invest Rs 1,645 crore.
Viacom18 is a joint venture between Network18 (a Reliance arm), which owns 51 per cent, and Paramount Global (earlier known as ViacomCBS), which holds the rest. Viacom18 owns and operates the suite of Colors TV channels and OTT platform, VOOT.
Bodhi Tree Systems, which was established in 2021, is a strategic investor in consumer technology opportunities in Southeast Asia, with a particular focus on India. The entity is a platform of James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems and Uday Shankar, the former president of The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific and former chairman of Star and Disney India.
A late evening press statement from RIL said the new partnership will jointly build India’s leading entertainment platform. The arrangement will also see the popular JioCinema OTT app being transferred to Viacom18.
“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,’’ Mukesh Ambani said.
RIL hits Rs 19trn market cap
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Wednesday hit a major milestone when it became the first Indian company to reach a market capitalisation of Rs 19 lakh crore (trilion) after its shares touched a 52-week high in intra-daytrades.
The RIL stock hit a new peak of Rs 2,827.10 that saw its market capitalisation going a little over Rs 19.12 lakh crore.
However, the counter came off these highs to settle at Rs 2,777.90. At close, RIL was valued at Rs 18,79,237.38 crore. The company had achieved a market cap of Rs 18 lakh crore in March 2022 and Rs 17 lakh crore on October 13, 2021.
During this calendar year, the RIL scrip has rallied by over 15 per cent so far.
