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To seal India merger, Disney-Reliance might require to dilute cricket dominance

The Indian antitrust body's opposition to a proposed $8.5 billion merger of the Indian media assets of Walt Disney and Dependence may force the business to sell some profitable cricket broadcast rights or devote to marketing cost caps.

Reuters reported earlier this week that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has sent out a warning notice to the business revealing issue that the merged entity will successfully have a monopoly on cricket broadcast rights worth billions of dollars, permitting it to squeeze advertisers.

Neither the business nor the regulator have actually commented as the procedure is personal.

Reliance-Disney are aiming to produce India's biggest home entertainment player which will compete with Sony, Netflix and Amazon with 120 television channels and two streaming services, however cricket, which has a fanatical following in the country, is the crown jewel.

According to 7 antitrust legal representatives, to keep the offer alive the business will now have to come up with structural modifications to their plan or so-called behavioural remedies, or both, which can consist of selling a few of their broadcast rights. The term refers to modifications in how a merged entity would conduct its company.

The business can merely sell rights of certain cricket tournaments or for a specific medium, such as television or streaming, to satisfy antitrust issues, they said.

Dependence and Disney have actually spent roughly $9.5 billion in the last few years for television and streaming rights for the world's wealthiest cricket tournament, the Indian Premier League, the International Cricket Council's matches such as the one-day and T20 World Cups, and matches arranged by the Indian cricket board.

Another option the companies can use is to devote that they will top advertisement rates for cricket matches for a couple of years, so they can guarantee the guard dog that advertisers' interests can be safeguarded, said the legal representatives.

What they can offer is that the rates will be reasonable, reasonable and non-discriminatory, or that they will not increase the rate beyond a specific portion which accounts only for inflation, stated Rahul Rai, a partner at Indian law practice Axiom5.

The worst case is if the CCI requests sale of a few of their rights.

Disney, Dependence and the CCI did not react to Reuters ask for remark. The business have actually previously told the regulator the rights will not damage advertisers and will end by 2027-28, when competitors can bid for them again.

NO RIGHTS, NO OFFER

Cricket rights are central to the Disney-Reliance merger.

Over the years, both business used free viewing of matches to attract users to a few of their streaming platforms in the hope they will purchase subscriptions to enjoy more material.

One legal representative said if there were no cricket rights, the offer is dead.

Together, the merged Disney-Reliance entity will likewise own Indian broadcast rights for other sporting occasions including the Wimbledon tennis championship, MotoGP and the English Premier League.

Media company GroupM estimates that business spent almost $2 billion in India in 2023 on sports industry related sponsorship, recommendation and media. Cricket represented 87% of that spending.

Reliance has already offered selling fewer than 10 TV channels - primarily in local languages - to win the CCI approval however resisted modifications to cricket rights, which irked the regulator, Reuters has actually reported.

Kanika Chaudhary Nayar, an antitrust partner at law office DSK Legal, said Disney and Dependence could also potentially satisfy a few of the concerns by selling sports television channels that do not reveal cricket, and after that attempt to maintain their overall portfolio of the cricket broadcast rights.

They can argue they are foregoing some overall sports earnings to keep cricket rights-related profits, she said.

If the CCI is not pleased with business' newest offer, it can carry out a more in-depth review of the merger which can drag the approval procedure for months, legal representatives state.

An industry source stated regardless of the notice Disney remains confident of winning an approval without offering the rights.

K.K. Sharma, a former head of mergers at the CCI, said the offer, if approved, would produce a big wheel in the broadcasting market ... and a useful monopoly on cricket advertisement revenues.

The combined strength of the new entity would offer it a clear dominant position, he said.

(source: Reuters)