Comcast Invests $200 Million in James Murdoch Venture for Foothold in Indian Media
variety.comPatrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Comcast, the conglomerate behind NBCUniversal and the Sky European TV giant, is to invest $200 million in Bodhi Tree Systems, a company headed by James Murdoch and Uday Shankar, a former head of Disney in India.
The move was approved by the Competition Commission of India on Wednesday. The funds will be directed to buying a small minority stake in Indian media group Viacom18.
The move is part of a complicated series of transactions that bind Viacom18 ever closer to Reliance Industries, the petroleum to telecoms conglomerate controlled by Mukesh Ambani which is now upending Indian media with its Jio cellular, broadband internet and streaming companies.
Bodhi Tree, which was also behind Viacom18’s nearly $3 billion bid for digital rights to the Indian Premier League cricket tournament, has a commitment to invest a total of $1.69 billion into Viacom18, with $538 million as an initial tranche.
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