As reported by Economic Times, two top execs of Reliance-Nita Ambani of Reliance Foundation and Akash Ambani as the chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm-have reportedly been inducted at the board of Viacom18. This piece of news has come at a time when Viacom18 is about to merge its Indian arm Star India with Walt Disney Company, and the reconstruction of the board of the media behemoth is a very important step toward the merger of the two media companies.
Other board members joining the Ambani’s include: James Murdoch, co-founder Bodhi Tree Systems; Mohammed Ahmed Al-Hardan, head of technology, media, and telecom at Qatar Investment Authority, one of the largest investors in Bodhi Tree; Jyoti Deshpande, president of media and content at RIL; and Shuva Mandal, partner at Anagram Partners. The Viacom18 board had six directors earlier, including Adil Zainulbhai and Uday Shankar.
The all-share deal through which Paramount Global sold its 13% stake in Viacom18 to RIL for ₹4,286 crore is expected to result in the resignation of Alexander Berkett, a member of the board. Star India’s board that had four directors also seems set for alterations as Gaurav Banerjee has switched to be Sony Pictures Networks India head.
A new board comprising members from both Star and Viacom18 would be formed once the merger is complete. According to media reports, the new board would comprise ten members. Out of this, RIL would nominate six members, Disney three, and Bodhi Tree one.
Viacom18 has submitted its formal documents for divesting TV channel licenses to Star India. The MIB is likely to clear it soon as all its applications are in line with the approved merger scheme by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). It is following the scheme that all assets are transferred to its wholly-owned subsidiary, Digital18, which then exchanges the assets with Star India for equity shares.
This will merge to change the Indian media market and create a combined entity worth $8.5 billion. This is expected to provide synergies in both content, manpower, technology, and revenue.
