Murdoch-Shankar platform leads Rs 13,500-cr funding in Viacom18

Reliance and Viacom18 on Wednesday introduced a strategic partnership with Bodhi Tree Systems, which is a platform of James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems and Uday Shankar, to type one of many largest TV and digital streaming firms in India.

Bodhi Tree Systems is main a fundraise with a consortium of buyers to speculate Rs 13,500 crore in Viacom18, to collectively construct India’s main leisure platform and pioneer the Indian media panorama’s transformation to a “streaming-first” method. Viacom18 owns and operates the suite of Colors TV channels and OTT platform, VOOT.

RIL subsidiary Reliance Projects & Property Management Services Ltd, which has important presence in tv, OTT, distribution, content material creation, and manufacturing providers, will make investments Rs 1,645 crore.

In addition, JioCinema OTT app shall be transferred to Viacom18. Paramount Global (previously often known as ViacomCBS), a world media and leisure firm comprising content material studios, TV networks and streaming providers together with CBS, Showtime Networks, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, BET, Paramount+ and Pluto TV will proceed as a shareholder of Viacom18 and can proceed to produce Viacom18 its premium international content material.

Bodhi Tree Systems, a newly fashioned platform between Lupa Systems Founder and CEO James Murdoch and Uday Shankar, former president of The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific and former Chairman of Star and Disney India, will leverage the companions’ shared observe document of constructing iconic companies and shaping the media panorama in India and globally. Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar, is an investor in Bodhi Tree Systems.

RIL Chairman and MD Mukesh D Ambani stated, “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.”

“We could not be more pleased to announce our new partnership,” Murdoch and Shankar stated. “Our ambition is to leverage technology advances, particularly in mobile, to provide meaningful solutions to meet everyday media and entertainment needs at scale. We seek to reshape the entertainment experience across more than 1 billion screens.”

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