Disney-Reliance entertainment biz deal may be beset with antitrust issues
Elara Capital estimates Disney and Viacom18 together will have the biggest share of the TV ads market at 43% while Zee-Sony would have 25%, making it difficult for others to compete
A merger of Walt Disney's India unit and billionaire Mukesh Ambani's media business would create an entertainment powerhouse in India, but lawyers say any deal would draw intense antitrust scrutiny and assets would likely need to be shed.
Disney and India's Reliance, which each have a major streaming service as well as 120 TV channels between them, are looking at merging into an entity in which Ambani's group would likely have a majority stake, sources said this week.
In particular, a deal could benefit Disney whose Hotstar streaming app has been loss-making. CEO Bob Iger said last month th...