James Murdoch And Uday Shankar Partner With Mukesh Ambani In Viacom18

Bodhi Tree Systems, a venture between James Murdoch's Lupa Systems and former Disney India executive Uday Shankar, will invest Rs 13, 500 crore in Reliance Industries' broadcasting business Viacom18.

An investment company set up by Rupert Murdoch's son James and Mr Shankar said on Wednesday it will lead a fundraising in Viacom18 with a consortium of investors aimed at building India's "leading entertainment platform," the entities said in a joint statement.

Reliance Projects & Property Management Services to invest an additional Rs 1,645 crore, in the strategic partnership between Reliance, Bodhi Tree Systems and Paramount Global, which is committed to innovation and distribution in the media and entertainment sector in India, the press release noted.

Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani said the partnership will help "India's transition to a streaming-first media market". Reliance held a 51 per cent stake in Viacom18, with ViacomCBS, which recently changed its name to Paramount Global, holding the rest.

“James and Uday's track record is unmatched. For over two decades, they have played an undeniable role in shaping the media ecosystem in India, Asia, and around the world. 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,” Mr Ambani added.

“We could not be more pleased to announce our new partnership,” said Mr Murdoch and Mr Shankar. “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,” they added.

Indians are rapidly adopting streaming platforms including Netflix and Amazon's Prime Video, which have been offering cheaper plans and local language content.

As well as streaming platform "VOOT", Viacom18 runs several TV channels in India, including Nickelodeon and Comedy Central.

Reuters had reported in January that Reliance was in talks with Mr Murdoch and Mr Shankar on them taking a significant stake in Viacom18.

Wednesday's statement did not disclose the new structure of Viacom18 but said that Paramount Global will continue as a shareholder and supply it with premium global content.

The transaction is expected to close within six months and is subject to closing conditions and requisite approvals.