James Murdoch’s Bodhi Tree, Reliance and Viacom18 Strike $2 Billion Deal to Create Giant TV and Streaming Company

variety.com:

Naman Ramachandran India’s Reliance and Viacom18 have entered a strategic partnership with Bodhi Tree Systems, a platform of James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems and former Disney president Uday Shankar, to form a giant TV and digital streaming company in India.Bodhi Tree is fundraising with a consortium of investors to invest $1.78 billion in Viacom18, to “jointly build India’s leading entertainment platform and pioneer the Indian media landscape’s transformation to a ‘streaming-first’ approach,” the companies said in a statement.

Viacom 18 is a joint venture of Network 18, the media group controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, and U.S. media conglomerate Viacom, which operates 38 channels across nine Indian languages, includng the Colors TV channels, and streaming platform Voot.

Reliance Projects and Property Management Services Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ambani’s Reliance Industries which has a presence in television, streaming, distribution, content creation, and production services, will invest $216 million.

Reliance’s JioCinema streaming app will be transferred to Viacom18. Paramount Global, formerly known as ViacomCBS,will continue as a shareholder of Viacom18 and will continue to supply Viacom18 with content.Ambani, chair and MD of Reliance Industries, said: “James and Uday’s track record is unmatched.