Paramount reportedly in talks to sell stake in Indian joint venture Viacom18

Paramount Global is reportedly in talks to sell its minority stake in Indian media company Viacom18 Media to Reliance Industries.

Mukesh Ambani

Bloomberg reports that Paramount is in advanced talks to offload the stake in Viacom 18, which is the parent company of assets including the JioCinema streaming service. The US-headquartered news outlet noted that talks were ongoing and may still not result in a deal.

If the deal comes to fruition, it will see Reliance Industries, which is owned by Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, extend its majority ownership in Viacom18.

The reports come on the heels of news that Reliance Industries and Disney agreed to merge their TV, streaming and media assets in India in an US$8.5bn deal. The deal, set to be complete by late 2024 or early 2025, will see the merger of 120 TV channels and two streamers, Disney+ Hotstar and Reliance/Viacom18’s JioCinema.

For Paramount, the reports come as it looks to sell various assets at the same time as exploring a sale of its own. The company has recently sold book publishing company Simon & Schuster and mixed martial arts promotion Bellator, while more recently it made around 800 job cuts and shuttered its preschool subscription service Noggin. David Ellison’s Skydance is also in talks to acquire a majority stake in Paramount Global’s parent company National Amusements in a deal that, if realised, would give it control of Paramount Global.

Reports of Paramount looking to exit its position in the Indian business come as major US players rethink their investments in the Indian market.

During an investor conference earlier this week, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the deal with Reliance allowed it to remain in the Indian market at the same time as lowering the risk of investing in a market he acknowledged was proving challenging.

Meanwhile, Sony in January formally called off the proposed merger of its Indian business with Zee Entertainment following a dispute over who would lead the combined company.