Mumbai, Apr 13 (IANS): Viacom18 on Wednesday announced that following the sanction by National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Mumbai, the scheme of merger of Reliance Storage Limited with itself has become effective. Viacom18 has as a result allotted shares to Bodhi Tree Systems and RIL group entities as consideration for the scheme of merger.

Upon consummation of this merger, (i) the integration of JioCinema into Viacom18 has been completed; and (ii) Viacom18 has access to Rs 15,145 crore of cash for its planned growth, comprising Rs 10,839 crore contributed

by RIL group entities and Rs 4,306 crore by Bodhi Tree Systems. The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), which is the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar, is an investor in Bodhi Tree Systems.

As a consequence of the closing of these transactions, the shareholding of Viacom18 will be:

(a) Equity: TV18, 50.994 per cent; Paramount Global, 48.994 per cent; Bodhi Tree, 0.011 per cent.

(b) CCPS: RIL group entities, 82.2 per cent; Bodhi Tree, 17.8 per cent.

(c) Fully diluted basis: RIL group entities, 60.37 per cent; TV18, 13.54 per cent; Bodhi Tree, 13.08 per cent; Paramount Global, 13.01 per cent.

The partnership will enable Viacom 18 to innovate and disrupt the media and entertainment sector, with Uday Shankar and James Murdoch providing strategic and operational guidance to Viacom 18, leveraging their track record of building iconic media businesses.

Uday Shankar has been appointed to the Board of Viacom18. Paramount Global will continue as a shareholder and supply Viacom18 its premium global content.

This unique partnership, according to a Viacom18 media release, brings together India's biggest conglomerate, two of the most recognised media industry veterans, and a leading global media and entertainment company.

Viacom 18's digital-focused strategy, according to the release, is already paying rich dividends with IPL's first

weekend viewership on JioCinema crossing the digital viewership recorded in the entire season last year. The platform set several new records with 2.5 crore-plus app downloads in a single day, 147 crore video views on the opening weekend and a peak concurrency of 1.6 crore for the first match.

This strong viewership was driven by JioCinema's extensive fan-centric unique features such as 4K feed, 12-language coverage, 16 unique feeds, hype mode, and multi-cam setup, among others.