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Benzinga - Shares of Reliance Industries (NS:RELI) were muted on Thursday after it received the Competition Commission of India‘s (CCI) approval for its ₹70,352 crore ($8.5 billion) merger with Disney‘s Indian media assets.
What Happened: The CCI greenlit the deal, proposed seven months ago, subject to certain voluntary modifications. The regulator announced the development in a post on social-media platform X after markets closed on Wednesday. The announcement came just in time for the conglomerate’s 47th annual general meeting, where analysts are hoping for some major announcements.
The combined entity will see Reliance holding a 16.34% stake in the media firm’s India business, while Viacom18 and Disney will own 46.82% and 36.84%, respectively. Nita Ambani will helm the joint venture as the chairperson, while Uday Shankar will be the vice chairperson. With 120 television channels and two streaming services, it will compete with the likes of Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Prime.
What To Expect From AGM: Reliance’s annual general meeting, scheduled for later today, has raised hopes that the conglomerate may lay out plans for the IPO of Reliance Jio or its retail business.
Analysts from Jefferies anticipate that Jio may go public in 2025 with a projected valuation of approximately $112 billion (₹9.3 lakh crore). Experts view Jio’s recent increases in tariffs and strategic efforts to monetise its 5G business as signs that the telecom market leader is gearing up for an IPO.
Investors will also look out for updates on ongoing projects in the new energy sector. The carbon conglomerate, which originally thrived through oil and petrochemicals, is now looking to transform into a green energy leader with a focus on green hydrogen, solar cells, energy storage and power electronics among others.
In June 2021, Reliance entered the new energy market with the creation of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Reliance New Energy (RNEL).
Price Action: RIL’s shares opened flat trading at ₹2,996.65 on Thursday.
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