Reliance reportedly plotting multi-billion dollar deal for major stake in Disney+Hotstar

Earlier this month, there were rumours that Disney was seeking to withdraw from the Indian market by selling off its local assets. Potential buyers were speculated to be the Adani Group, Sun TV, and Reliance Industries.

However, recent reports suggest that Disney is close to sealing a major controlling stake deal with Reliance Group, led by Mukesh Ambani. Both parties are currently negotiating the final valuation of the deal.

Reliance Disney Potential Deal

According to Bloomberg News, a multi-billion-dollar deal is nearing completion between Disney and Reliance Industries. The tentative deal consists of a major part of Disney+ Hotstar, a popular OTT platform, along with television channels like Star Sports and Star Gold.

Although previous reports suggested that Disney was planning to sell all its Indian assets, it has now been reported that they are looking to sell a controlling stake instead of the whole division.

As per sources, Disney's asking price is $10 billion for Hotstar and Star India, while Reliance Industries is offering between $7-8 billion. This valuation dispute is presently the biggest obstacle to the deal.

One Eye on the IPL?

If the deal between Reliance and Disney is finalized, Reliance Industries could soon dominate cricket streaming in India. This shouldn't be surprising, as the Star Group once held a similar position.

Prior to JioCinema's inception, the Star Group had exclusive streaming rights for home cricket matches across both OTT and TV platforms. However, the situation took a turn when an unprecedented event occurred in 2023 - two different media houses, JioCinema for OTT, and Star Network for TV, gained the rights to live-stream the same cricket tournament, IPL 2023.

JioCinema has since been advancing rapidly, pushing its freemium business model. If the Reliance Group secures the Disney deal, the Ambani-led conglomerate will gain control over both the OTT and TV streaming rights of cricket.

Sight set on the Premier League

Even though the deal is not publicly acknowledged by either Disney or the Reliance Group, the implications are significant. As a result, Reliance could soon become a superpower in cricket streaming, controlling not only the OTT platform but also Star Sports broadcast rights until 2027.

Apart from cricket, Disney+ Hotstar is also the home of the English Premier League, which is the biggest football league in the world. Nevertheless, Disney retains the option to back out of the deal anytime and keep its Indian assets intact.

Source