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Dependence, Walt Disney close $8.5 billion merger of Indian media assets

Dependence Industries and Walt Disney on Thursday completed the $8.5 billion merger of their Indian media assets, which have been split into 3 divisions, with each unit having its own CEO.

The companies said the recently formed divisions are home entertainment, which houses Dependence's Colours TV channels and Disney's Star; digital, home to online streaming platforms JioCinema and Hotstar, and sports.

Previous Google executive Kiran Mani, who leads JioCinema, will take charge of the digital organisation.

Reuters reported last month that Disney Hotstar's CEO Sajith Sivanandan resigned from the function as organization combination collected speed for the merger.

The entertainment division will be led by Kevin Vaz, who is presently the leading manager at Dependence's Viacom 18 Media.

Sanjog Gupta, who heads sports at Disney's Indian media operations, will organize the merged company's sports division.

The completion of the merger comes after the business won key approval from India's antitrust regulator in August after lightening regulative stress over their grip on broadcasting rights for cricket, India's preferred sport.

The merger will create India's most significant entertainment player, with 120 TV channels and two streaming services, and will take on Sony, Netflix and Amazon .

(source: Reuters)