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Mukesh Ambani

Adani Group Surpasses Mukesh Ambani’s RIL in 2024 M&A Deal Value

The Adani Group outpaced Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) in terms of merger and acquisition (M&A) deal value in 2024. The group secured deals worth $6.32 billion, significantly higher than Reliance Industries’ $3.14 billion, reaffirming its competitive edge in the M&A arena. This marks a reversal from 2023 when Reliance Industries led Indian conglomerates in M&A activity, with deals totaling $8.77 billion, while Adani Group’s deals amounted to just $1.73 billion. Despite the shifting dynamics, the Adani and Ambani groups continue to dominate the M&A landscape, regularly trading the top positions since the onset of the pandemic. Meanwhile, the JSW and Tata groups have also remained active in mergers and acquisitions, focusing on capacity expansion. The collective value of M&A deals by listed entities of India’s top five conglomerates accounted for 15.3% of the total deal value last year, reflecting their significant role in shaping the country’s corporate landscape. This trend highlights the intensifying competition between India’s top industrial giants as they strategically expand their influence through acquisitions. Source: business standard Photo Credit: business standard

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Reliance Acquires Oncology Platform Karkinos Healthcare for ₹375 Crore

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, has acquired Karkinos Healthcare Pvt Ltd, a technology-driven oncology platform, for ₹375 crore. The acquisition, conducted through Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Ltd (RSBVL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of RIL, was finalized with the allotment of 1 crore equity shares and 36.5 crore optionally fully convertible debentures, according to a stock exchange filing on Saturday. Founded on July 24, 2020, Karkinos Healthcare focuses on innovative solutions for the early detection, diagnosis, and management of cancer. The company recorded a turnover of ₹22 crore in FY 2022-23 and has collaborated with approximately 60 hospitals by December 2023. Karkinos also operates through a subsidiary to establish a 150-bed multispecialty cancer hospital in Imphal, Manipur. Prominent previous investors in Karkinos included Ewart Investments (a Tata Sons subsidiary), Reliance Digital Health, the US-based Mayo Clinic, and industry stalwarts like Sundar Raman and Ravi Kant. The company’s offerings span Advanced Cancer Care Diagnostics and Research (ACCDR), a Distributed Cancer Care Network (DCCN), and corporate tie-ups for early cancer diagnosis. The acquisition comes as part of Reliance’s strategic expansion into the healthcare sector. “The acquisition of Karkinos will help expand the health services business portfolio of the Reliance group,” the company stated. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai Bench, had approved the resolution plan for Karkinos under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process in December 2024, allowing Reliance to proceed without additional regulatory approvals. This move aligns with Reliance’s vision to integrate innovative, cost-effective healthcare solutions into its growing portfolio, positioning itself as a significant player in the Indian healthcare industry. Source: Economic Times Photo Credit: Economic Times  

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Mukesh Ambani: Disney Deal Ushers in New Era for India’s Entertainment Industry

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani hailed the merger of media assets between Reliance and Walt Disney as a transformative moment for India’s entertainment sector. Speaking at the Reliance AGM, Ambani emphasized that the partnership marks the start of a new era by blending content creation with digital streaming, much like Reliance’s success with Jio and Retail. The deal, approved by the Competition Commission of India (CCI), combines Reliance’s media holdings, including TV18 and the Colors brand, with Disney’s assets, creating India’s largest media empire valued at over Rs 70,000 crore. The joint venture will house two major OTT platforms, Disney Hotstar and Jio Cinema, along with 120 television channels. Ambani highlighted that the combined media business would be a crucial growth center for the Reliance ecosystem, promising to deliver world-class digital entertainment to cater to diverse consumer tastes at affordable prices. “Our digital-first approach will deliver unparalleled content,” he added, underlining the potential of this venture to redefine India’s media landscape. The merger will see Reliance and its affiliates hold a 63.16% stake in the combined entity, while Disney will hold the remaining 36.84%. Reliance has committed to investing nearly Rs 11,500 crore into the venture to enhance its competitive edge against rivals like Sony and Netflix. Nita Ambani, wife of Mukesh Ambani, will chair the new joint venture, with Uday Shankar serving as Vice Chairperson. The CCI’s clearance of the merger followed adjustments proposed by both parties to the original transaction structure. Source: Business Standard

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Reliance JioCinema Secures Exclusive Deal with Pokemon for Extensive Children’s Content Offering in India

Reliance JioCinema, the entertainment division of India’s Reliance, has entered into an agreement with The Pokemon Company to feature children’s shows and movies on its platform, sources familiar with the deal revealed. This move is part of Reliance’s strategy to enhance its content library in the face of increasing competition from streaming rivals like Walt Disney Co in the domestic market. The recently signed deal designates JioCinema’s streaming app as the “exclusive” India platform partner for over 1,000 episodes and approximately 20 movies from the popular Japanese anime series Pokemon. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed. To broaden the appeal of the content, the shows and movies will be dubbed into three Indian languages. Pokemon, a global multimedia franchise with a substantial market presence in trading cards, games, TV shows, and movies, is partnering with Viacom18, the entertainment joint-venture of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani that operates JioCinema. Despite requests for comments, Viacom18 and The Pokemon Company, owned by Nintendo and its affiliates, did not respond. This collaboration is part of Ambani’s broader effort to expand Reliance’s presence in the Indian streaming market, which is projected to reach a value of $7 billion by 2027 according to research firm Media Partners Asia. While JioCinema competes with streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon, its recent focus has been on challenging Disney’s Hotstar app, particularly by offering free streaming of cricket matches. As part of this content expansion, JioCinema is set to introduce approximately 3,000 hours of children’s content, including productions from Entertainment One, Animaccord, Cartoon Network Studios, and DreamWorks. These additions will be facilitated through Viacom18’s existing content agreements or integration with its other streaming platform, Voot Kids, which has been discontinued. Notably, although some Pokemon content was previously available on Voot, the new partnership with JioCinema represents a more extensive collaboration. In May, JioCinema announced a multi-year partnership with NBCUniversal, which confirmed that “kids and family programming,” including content from DreamWorks, was part of the agreement. Entertainment One, Animaccord, and Cartoon Network Studios did not respond to requests for comments. Additionally, in April, Viacom18 secured a deal with Warner Bros Discovery Inc. to bring more Hollywood and international content, such as popular series “Succession” and “Game of Thrones,” to JioCinema.

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Reliance Industries Nearing Multi-Billion Dollar Deal to Acquire Disney’s India Operations

News on MEA

Reliance Industries Ltd., led by Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s wealthiest tycoon, is reportedly nearing a significant deal involving cash and stock to acquire Walt Disney Co.’s operations in India. This deal revolves around Disney’s controlling stake in the Disney Star business, valued at approximately $10 billion, offering an alternative to the previously considered piecemeal transactions. Reliance assesses the assets at around $7 billion to $8 billion. The formal announcement of this acquisition is expected as early as next month, and it may include the integration of some of Reliance’s media units into Disney Star, although specifics remain undisclosed. According to insiders, Disney is likely to retain a minority stake in the Indian company following the completion of the cash and stock exchange. It’s important to note that no final decision has been reached regarding the deal or its valuation. Disney might still choose to retain ownership of the assets for a bit longer. Both Disney and Reliance declined to comment on the ongoing discussions. This potential deal underscores Mukesh Ambani’s growing influence in India’s entertainment industry. In 2022, he secured the streaming rights for the Indian Premier League for $2.7 billion and subsequently offered free broadcasts of the popular domestic cricket tournament on the JioCinema platform. Furthermore, Reliance obtained a significant contract to broadcast HBO shows from Warner Bros Discovery Inc. in India, content that was previously held by Disney. Despite Disney Star’s challenges with declining subscriber numbers, the media group has been actively investing in the market. In the past, they explored various options for the business, including an outright sale or forming a joint venture. Interestingly, Disney’s Indian streaming platform recently achieved a milestone by attracting a record 43 million viewers for the 2023 Men’s Cricket World Cup match between India and New Zealand, surpassing the viewership of the highly anticipated India-Pakistan match earlier this month, which had 35 million viewers.

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Reliance Industries’ media business saw its biggest growth last year, says Mukesh Ambani at Reliance AGM 2022

Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, stated in his speech to the shareholders on Monday that the company’s media division, which includes Viacom18 and Network18, achieved its highest growth last year as a consequence of strong engagement that led to record subscriptions and advertising revenues. “Our national channels CNN, News18, CNBC TV18, and News 18 India are consistently ranked number one. Moneycontrol is amongst the world’s most popular subscription products. Our news brands are innovating with storytelling methods across platforms building deeper relationships with audiences wherever they are and whatever device they use,” he added at the 45th annual general meeting (AGM) of Reliance Industries. The chairman also mentioned how Viacom18, the company’s entertainment division, strengthened its position as a market leader by forging a path into sports and winning the digital rights to the Indian Premier League (IPL) for a period of five years. “Along with key sporting rights in football, badminton, basketball, tennis and now cricket, Viacom18 is also investing in movie rights and original content for OTT. In news, entertainment and sports, digital is core and fast growing theme as we prepare to embrace the 5G revolution,” Ambani said.  He continued by saying that the collaboration with Bodhi Tree, James Murdoch, Uday Shankar, and Paramount Global will give Viacom18 access to more talent and help it become a world-class media and entertainment business. Ambani also praised the Reliance Retail leadership team at the AGM for attaining a turnover of Rs 2 lakh crore and earnings before interest, taxes, and depreciation (EBIDTA) of Rs 12,000 crore. He said, “Today, Reliance Retail is among the top ten retailers in Asia.” Isha Ambani, director of Reliance Retail, has stated that the company will begin selling FMCG products this year. She remarked in her speech to the Reliance Industries AGM, “The objective of this business will be to develop and deliver products and solve every Indian’s daily needs, with high quality products at affordable pricing,”

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5G spectrum auction ends with bids reaching 1.5 trillion

Reliance Jio, owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, became the highest bidder for 5G spectrum on Monday, paying 88,078 crores to buy over half of the airwaves offered in the most recent auction. The Adani group paid 212 crores for 400 MHz, or less than 1% of all spectrum sold, according to Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. While Jio purchased spectrum across several bands, including the coveted 700 MHz band, which can provide 6-10 km of signal range and serves as a good foundation for fifth generation (5G) in all 22 circles in the country, Adani Group purchased spectrum in the 26 GHz band, which is not for public networks. If 700 Mhz is used, a single tower can cover a larger area. Bharti Airtel, owned by telecom tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal, paid 43,084 crores for a 19,867 MHz airwave that spans multiple bands.  For 18,784 crore, Vodafone Idea Ltd. purchased spectrum. Vaishnaw reported that a total of 150,173 crore worth of bids were received. 51,236 MHz, or 71%, of the 72,098 MHz of spectrum offered over 10 bands, were sold. According to him, the government will receive a payment of 13,365 crore in the first year for the spectrum.

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Akash receives the reins of Reliance Jio from Mukesh Ambani

Akash M. Ambani, a non-executive director and Mukesh Ambani’s son, has took charge of the board of directors of Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, RIL’s digital and telecom division, in a momentous succession for the Reliance Industries (RIL) empire. Following Mukesh Ambani’s resignation as the company’s Director with effect from June 27, Akash was elevated. Mukesh Ambani will however continue to serve as chairman of Jio Platforms Ltd, the parent company of all Reliance Jio digital services brands. Akash, who is currently leading the creation of the “convergence dividend” for more than 500 million consumers, has played a key role in the disruptive and inclusive growth path that the Reliance Group’s consumer retail and digital services have mapped out. This path is highly inclusive across geographies and income levels. Reliance Jio Infocomm, a division of Jio Platforms, is the country’s largest 4G and mobile broadband digital service provider. Akash played a crucial role in the international investments made by tech giants and investors in 2020, which helped Jio become well-known among investors worldwide. In order to promote an ecosystem that will advance digital solutioning and make the power of data and technology more available to everyone, including those who are still on the margin, he is required to continue operating at the forefront of innovation and technology. Officials from RIL say that Akash personally oversaw Jio’s most significant digital acquisitions in recent years. He has also been actively involved in the creation of new technologies and capabilities, such as blockchain and AI-ML. In the meantime, Pankaj Mohan Pawar was appointed as the company’s managing director for a five-year term beginning on June 27 by the Reliance Jio board. Additionally, it authorised the appointment of K.V. Chowdary and Raminder Singh Gujral as additional directors of the firm who will serve as independent directors for a five-year term. An announcement regarding the appointment of Isha, Akash’s twin sister, as chair of Reliance’s retail division is anticipated as soon as Wednesday, according to people with knowledge of the situation. However, the company opted not to comment. Source: PTI

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