Disney, Reliance Industries close in on deal to merge India media ops

In order to advance with plans to merge their India-based media operations, Walt Disney and Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) are finalising details of a non-binding term sheet, according to a report by The Economic Times (ET).

Disney had been mulling a sale of its stakes in its Indian TV network after the Indian unit lost its streaming rights to the Indian Premier League (IPL) to Viacom18 Media Pvt, a joint venture between Paramount Global and RIL last year. Bloomberg had reported in October that some of Reliance’s media units could be merged into Disney Star.