- 27 Jan 2022
- ICICIdirect Research
Reliance Industries, Viacom18
RELIANCE - 2923 Change: -1.85 (-0.06 %)News: As per The Economic Times, Reliance Industries, along with other investors - notably James Murdoch and Uday Shankar - plan to invest over Rs.12,000 crore in the entertainment and sports broadcasting business, responding to an industry consolidation. plan to acquire nearly 40% stake in Viacom18. ViacomCBS, which owns 49% stake in Viacom18, is likely to sell a small part of its stake and get diluted to about 10%, while Reliance Industries-owned TV18 will continue to hold a majority stake. As per the report, the deal will include primary and secondary infusion of over Rs.12,000 crore in Viacom18 from the investors at a valuation of around $4 billion (Rs. 30,000 crore).
Views: The valuation is ~4x of current market cap of TV18 (holding company of Viacom18 with 51% stake. We note that the infusion of the given amount will enhance the liquidity of TV18 portfolio as the same would be deployed towards enhancing OTT presence as well as get into sports rights.
Impact: Positive