Viacom18, Star India expect to complete merger by October
Viacom18 and Walt Disney-owned Star India are hopeful of completing their merger by October, when the Competition Commission of India (CCI) is also expected to issue its order, officials familiar with the matter told ET.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has already put the merger scheme between Star and Viacom18 for final disposal. The merger, which was announced on February 28, is expected to receive the NCLT green signal as creditors and shareholders of both companies have approved it.
«The biggest barrier to the merger proposal is the CCI approval. Once the competition watchdog approval comes, the merger deal will be more or less concluded. The expectation internally is that the CCI approval might come in October,» said one of the officials tracking the development.
As part of its probe into the likely impact of the merger on the competitive landscape, CCI has started reaching out to other broadcasters, streaming platforms, TV distributors, and advertisers.
«CCI has reached out to us a couple of weeks back to know our views about the Star-Viacom18 merger,» said a top executive with a rival media firm, on condition of anonymity.
The executive stated that this is a standard approach adopted by the CCI in all merger transactions, enabling the competition watchdog to assess a merger's impact in an industry.
«Even in the Sony-Zee merger case, CCI reached out to all the key players in the industry,» the executive said, adding that the commission typically issues an order a few months after its industry
