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RPT-India flags cricket rights concerns with Disney-Reliance $8.5 bln merger

India's antitrust body has reached a preliminary evaluation that the $8.5 billion India merger of Dependence and Walt Disney media properties damages competition due to their power over cricket broadcast rights, 4 sources told Reuters on Tuesday.

It is the most significant obstacle so far to the planned Disney-Reliance merger which aims to create India's greatest entertainment gamer which will compete with Sony, Zee Entertainment, Netflix and Amazon with a combined 120 TV channels and 2 streaming services.

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

The CCI has asked the business to describe within 30 days why an investigation must not be bought. Cricket is the biggest pain point for the CCI, said another source. The merged business, which would be bulk owned by Asia's. wealthiest male Mukesh Ambani's Reliance, would have. financially rewarding rights worth billions of dollars for the broadcast of. cricket on television and streaming platforms, raising fears over. pricing power and its grip over advertisers.

Reliance, Disney and the CCI did not respond to ask for. comment. All sources declined to be named as the CCI process is. private. Antitrust professionals had actually alerted the merger, announced in February,. could deal with extreme scrutiny, specifically on the sporting rights. concern. The CCI earlier privately asked Dependence and Disney around 100. concerns connected to the merger. The companies have actually informed the. watchdog they are willing to sell fewer than 10 tv. channels to assuage issues about market power and win an early. approval, sources informed Reuters.

But they had declined to relent on cricket, informing the CCI. that broadcast and streaming rights will expire in 2027 and 2028. and can not be sold today, which any such move would. require the cricket board's approval, which might postpone the. procedure.

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

GETTING COMPLEX

Reliance-Disney will own digital and TV cricket rights for. leading leagues, including for the world's most valuable cricket. tournament, the Indian Premier League. The CCI notification may postpone the approval process but the business. can still resolve the issues by providing more concessions, the. first source stated.

This is a precursor of things getting complicated ... The. notice indicates that initially the CCI believes the merger hurts. competitors and whatever concessions provided are insufficient,. added the person. A 2nd source said CCI has provided the business one month to. respond and describe their position, and the concerns presently. focus on how advertisers could face prices challenges if. the entities are merged. The CCI is worried the entity can increase rates for. advertisers throughout live occasions, said the individual.

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

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

Media agency GroupM approximates spending on sports market. related sponsorship, endorsement and media totalled to near $2. billion in 2023. Cricket represented 87% of those spends. The former head of mergers at the CCI, K.K. Sharma, has stated the. merger might cause nearly an outright control over. cricket.. Zee and Sony prepared to create a $10 billion TV behemoth in. India and in 2022 and got a similar warning notice. They provided. some concessions by selling 3 television channels which helped them. win a CCI approval, but the merger eventually collapsed.

(source: Reuters)