News Update

Viacom 18 And Zee Entertainment To Merge ; Talks Are On Between The Companies

• ByStartupStory     |    June 21, 2021

Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd, the owner of the Colors general entertainment channel, and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd owned by Subash Chandra are in initial talks for a potential merger that could create a large media firm with interests spanning broadcast, OTT, live entertainment and movie production.

Discussions are on whether Viacom 18 and Zee Entertainment to merge, and if that happens then the promoters of Viacom18 could become among the largest shareholders of the combined entity since more than 65% share of Zee Entertainment is owned by foreign institutional investors.“The merger of Viacom18 and Zee is proposed to be done through a share swap deal. The talks started a few weeks ago, and the deal is unlikely to involve any cash transaction,” revealed a close source.

Viacom18 is a joint venture between TV18 Broadcast Ltd (51%) and US-based ViacomCBS Inc. (49%). TV18 is a unit of Network18 Media and Investments Ltd, majority-owned by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). Whereas, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, has been founded by Essel Group’s Subhash Chandra, is majority-owned by foreign institutional investors, including Investco Oppenheimer Developing Markets Fund and Ofi Global Fund China LLC.

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