MUMBAI: Media conglomerate Viacom 18, on Thursday, announced that it has completed the transaction for a strategic partnership with Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), Bodhi Tree Systems, and Paramount Global.
The closure of the deal comes just under a year (April 27, 2022, to be precise) after Reliance and Viacom18 announced the strategic partnership with Bodhi Tree Systems, which is a platform of James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems and Uday Shankar.
Viacom18 announced that following the sanction by NCLT Mumbai, the scheme of merger of Reliance Storage Ltd with Viacom 18 has become effective, and Viacom18 has allotted shares to Bodhi Tree Systems and RIL Group entities as consideration for the scheme of the merger, according to a statement.
Upon the completion of this merger, the integration of JioCinema into Viacom18 stands completed and Viacom18 will have access to Rs 15,145 crore of cash for its planned growth, comprising Rs 10,839 crore contributed by RIL Group entities and Rs 4,306 crore contributed by Bodhi Tree Systems, the statement added.
Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, is an investor in Bodhi Tree Systems.
As a consequence of the closing of the transactions, the shareholding of Viacom18 will now change, and Bodhi Tree will be holding 13% of Viacom18 on a diluted basis. While RIL Group and Paramount will hold 60.4% and 13% respectively on a diluted basis, in Viacom18.
The partnership will enable Viacom 18 to innovate and disrupt the M&E sector, with Uday Shankar and James Murdoch providing strategic and operational guidance to Viacom 18, leveraging their track-record of building iconic media businesses. Uday Shankar has been appointed to the board of Viacom18.
Paramount Global will continue as a shareholder and supply Viacom18 its premium global content.
