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India flags cricket rights worry about Disney-Reliance $8.5 bln merger

India's antitrust body has reached an initial assessment that the $8.5 billion India merger of Reliance and Walt Disney media assets harms competitors due to their power over cricket broadcast rights, four sources told Reuters on Tuesday.

It is the biggest setback so far to the planned Disney-Reliance merger which intends to develop India's biggest entertainment player which will take on Sony, Zee Entertainment, Netflix and Amazon with a combined 120 television channels and 2 streaming services.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has independently cautioned Disney and Reliance through a notice in which it has actually shared its concerns about their grip over rights to broadcast the preferred sport of the world's most populous nation, one of the sources stated.

The CCI has actually asked the companies to discuss within 30 days why an examination must not be ordered.

Cricket is the greatest pain point for the CCI, said another source.

The merged business, which would be bulk owned by Asia's. richest man Mukesh Ambani's Reliance, would have. lucrative rights worth billions of dollars for the broadcast of. cricket on television and streaming platforms, raising worries over. pricing power and its grip over marketers.

Reliance, Disney and the CCI did not react to requests for. comment. All sources decreased to be called as the CCI process is. confidential.

Antitrust experts had actually cautioned the merger, announced in. February, might deal with extreme analysis, especially on the. sporting rights concern.

The CCI previously independently asked Dependence and Disney around. 100 questions associated to the merger. The business have informed the. watchdog they are willing to sell less than 10 television. channels to relieve concerns about market power and win an early. approval, sources informed Reuters.

But they had refused to relent on cricket, telling the CCI. that broadcast and streaming rights will expire in 2027 and 2028. and can not be offered right now, and that any such move would. require the cricket board's approval, which could delay the. procedure.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has Jay Shah, the. boy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home minister Amit Shah,. in one of its leading positions as secretary.

GETTING COMPLICATED

Reliance-Disney will own digital and television cricket rights. for top leagues, consisting of for the world's most important cricket. tournament, the Indian Premier League.

The CCI notification might postpone the approval process but the. business can still deal with the concerns by using more. concessions, the very first source stated.

This is a precursor of things getting complicated ... The. notification means that at first the CCI believes the merger hurts. competition and whatever concessions used are not enough,. added the individual.

A second source stated CCI has actually provided the companies 1 month to. respond and explain their position, and the issues currently. focus on how marketers could deal with prices difficulties if. the entities are combined.

The CCI is worried the entity can increase rates for. advertisers throughout live occasions, stated the individual.

Jefferies has said the Disney-Reliance entity will have a. 40% share of the advertising market in TV and streaming. segments.

Cricket has a fanatical following in India, the world's most. populated country with an estimated 1.4 billion individuals, and. matches are searched for by advertisers.

Media firm GroupM approximates spending on sports. market related sponsorship, endorsement and media totalled to. near $2 billion in 2023. Cricket represented 87% of those. invests.

The previous head of mergers at the CCI, K.K. Sharma, has stated. the merger might cause nearly an outright control over. cricket.

Zee and Sony planned to create a $10 billion television leviathan in. India and in 2022 and got a comparable caution notification. They provided. some concessions by offering 3 television channels which helped them. win a CCI approval, but the merger ultimately collapsed.

(source: Reuters)