India’s leading private enterprise, Reliance Industries, disclosed to stock exchanges today, March 14, that it has finalized a binding agreement to acquire Paramount Global’s complete 13.01% ownership in Viacom 18 Media for a sum of Rs 4,286 crore ($517 million).

The stake in Viacom18 was previously held by Paramount Global via its two subsidiary companies.

According to a filing with US regulators by Paramount, they will maintain their content licensing agreement with Viacom18 even after the acquisition. Paramount’s content is already available on Reliance’s JioCinema platform.

Viacom18, a subsidiary of TV18 Broadcast, is majority-owned by TV18 Broadcast, holding preferential shares totaling 57.48%. Following this transaction, TV18 Broadcast’s ownership in Viacom18 will rise to 70.49%. Viacom18 operates 40 television channels, including popular ones like Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and MTV.

This acquisition is contingent upon the completion of Reliance’s previously announced merger with Walt Disney for their television and streaming media assets in India.

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