[citation needed] More recently, the company had signed a deal with the National Basketball Association in order to deliver live NBA games to all of their own networks.
[16] In January 2022, there were reports that Lupa India, an investment company set up by Uday Shankar and James Murdoch, were in the final stages of picking up a 39% stake in Viacom18.
[18] In April 2022, Reliance announced that Bodhi Tree Systems, a company founded by Shankar and Murdoch with backing from the Qatar Investment Authority,[19] would make a US$1.8 billion investment in Viacom18 to "jointly build India’s leading entertainment platform and pioneer the Indian media landscape's transformation to a ‘streaming-first’ approach."
For purposes of the merger, a subsidiary of Viacom18 was going to be created to absorb Disney Star through a stock swap,[23] pending ratification and regulatory approval.
[24][25][26][27] In February 2024, Disney and Reliance reached a deal to merge their streaming and television assets, with the joint venture valued at $8.5 billion including synergies.
As part of the deal, Viacom18 would be merged into Disney Star with Disney holding a 36.84% stake in the combined entity, which would bring together assets such as linear television entertainment channels StarPlus, Colors TV and the Star Gold Network, sports channels Star Sports and Sports18 and the streaming services JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar with Nita Ambani serving as the chairperson of the joint venture, with Uday Shankar serving as vice chairperson with the deal giving 16.34% to Reliance and 46.82% to Viacom18[28] and is expected to close sometime in late 2024 or early 2025 pending regulatory approval.
[32] On May 14, 2024, It was reported the deal between Disney and Reliance was approved by National Company Law Tribunal, with the JioCinema streaming service being moved to the Digital18 unit as part of the merger.
On 14 November 2024, Reliance Industries Limited issued a media release stating that the merger of Viacom18 with Star India had become effective.