Reliance nears deal to buy Disney’s $10 bln-valued India business -Bloomberg News

BENGALURU, Oct 23 (Reuters) – Disney (DIS.N) is nearing a deal to sell its India operations, which it values at around $10 billion, to Reliance Industries (RELI.NS), its biggest rival in the country, rather than sell the business in parts, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.

Disney has been exploring options to sell or find a partner for its India assets, Reuters reported in July, and has held talks with billionaires Gautam Adani and Sun TV Network-owner (SUTV.NS) Kalanithi Maran as well as private equity firm Blackstone (BX.N), according to various media reports.

However, Disney may now sell a controlling stake in the business to Reliance, the Mukesh Ambani-controlled conglomerate whose streaming platform’s success has weighed on the U.S. company’s Indian business, Bloomberg reported.

Reliance, whose broadcast venture Viacom18 runs JioCinema, values Disney’s India assets at between $7 billion and $8 billion, the report said.

The deal could be announced as early as next month, although no final decision has been made and Disney could still decide to hold onto the assets, Bloomberg reported.

Disney and Reliance did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

Disney’s India business, which comprises the Disney+ Hotstar streaming service and Star India, was its biggest last year globally by users. It posted a loss of $41.5 million on revenue of $390 million for the year to March 2022.

JioCinema has put increased pressure on Disney India, with Ambani marketing the platform by offering free access to the Indian Premier League cricket tournament, digital rights of which were earlier with Disney.

Moreover, earlier this year, Viacom18 struck a deal with Warner Bros for its content, including HBO media. Several of these shows earlier aired in India on the Disney platform.

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