Reliance, Disney to offer concessions to win antitrust nod for merger

Industry:    3 months ago

Reliance and Walt Disney have offered to sell some channels to win faster antitrust approval for their $8.5 billion India media assets merger, but are resisting changes to cricket broadcast rights they own, two sources familiar with the matter said.

Antitrust experts have warned that the Reliance-Disney merger, announced in February, could face intense scrutiny as it will create India’s biggest entertainment player which will compete with Sony, Zee Entertainment, Netflix and Amazon with a combined 120 TV channels and two streaming services.

The merged company, which will be majority owned by Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance, will also have lucrative rights worth billions of dollars for the broadcast of cricket, raising pricing power fears and its grip over advertisers.

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