As per various reports, media heavyweight James Murdoch, former Star & Disney India chairman, Uday Shankar along with Reliance Industries plan to invest over Rs 12,000 crore in the entertainment and sports broacasting businesess.
Murdoch and Shankar plan to acquire nearly 40% stake in Viacom18, as per Economic Times. The company is also planning to raise funds upwards of Rs 12,000 crore from financial investors, according to industry sources, to beef up the media business. Reliance will also invest its own capital into the domain.
ViacomCBS will retain only 10 percent stake in the joint venture in which TV18 is the majority owner with 51 percent. The remaining 39 percent will be sold to the investment firm Lupa Systems, the private investment company run by Shankar and Murdoch, as per reports. The report further claims that a joint venture of Network18, which owns 51 percent, and ViacomCBS, with a 49 percent stake, Viacom18 offers 53 channels and reaches to around 600 million Indians monthly.
Viacom 18 Media Pvt. Limited is an Indian joint venture operation between TV18 and ViacomCBS based in Mumbai.
