A Disney-Reliance India entertainment merger may be beset with antitrust headaches

New Delhi: A merger of Walt Disney’s India unit and billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s media business would create an entertainment powerhouse in India, but lawyers say any deal would draw intense antitrust scrutiny and assets would likely need to be shed.

Disney and India’s Reliance, which each have a major streaming service as well as 120 TV channels between them, are looking at merging into an entity in which Ambani’s group would likely have a majority stake, sources said this week.

In particular, a deal could benefit Disney whose Hotstar streaming app has been loss-making. CEO Bob Iger said last month that while Disney’s TV channels were doing well in India, other parts of the business were struggling and it was seeking to “improve the bottom line.”