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Tag: Lupa Systems

  • CCI approves Jio Cinema OTT and Viacom 18 Media merger

    CCI approves Jio Cinema OTT and Viacom 18 Media merger

    Mumbai: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the proposed merger of Jio Cinema OTT and Viacom18 Media on Monday.

    Following an investment by BTS Investment and Reliance Projects & Property Management Services, the CCI announced in a tweet on Monday that it had approved the merger of the Jio Cinema OTT platform with Viacom18 Media.

     

     

    In April, Reliance Industries (RIL) and Viacom18 announced a strategic partnership with Bodhi Tree Systems. According to an agreement signed, Bodhi Tree was obliged to invest Rs 13,500 crore in Viacom18, and Reliance Projects & Property Management Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RIL, was informed to invest Rs 1,645 crore in the broadcaster, forming one of India’s largest TV and digital streaming firms. As a result, Reliance’s popular Jio Cinema OTT app was transferred to Viacom18.

    Bodhi Tree Systems (BTS) is a joint venture between James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems and the former chairman of Star India and Disney India Uday Shankar.

    IT support services are provided by Reliance Projects & Property Management Services. Through its portfolio of channels and streaming service Voot, Viacom18 Media engages in the business of offering media and entertainment services.

    Deals that exceed a specific threshold require regulator permission, which keeps an eye on unethical commercial practices in the market.

  • James Murdoch, Uday Shankar’s Bodhi Tree Systems to invest Rs 13,500 crore in Viacom18

    James Murdoch, Uday Shankar’s Bodhi Tree Systems to invest Rs 13,500 crore in Viacom18

    Mumbai: Reliance and Viacom18 have announced a strategic partnership with Bodhi Tree Systems, which is a platform of James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems and Uday Shankar, to form one of the largest TV and digital streaming companies in India. Bodhi Tree Systems is leading a fund raise with a consortium of investors to invest Rs 13,500 crore in Viacom18, to jointly build India’s leading entertainment platform and pioneer the Indian media landscape’s transformation to a “streaming-first” approach. 

    Viacom18 owns and operates the suite of Colors TV channels and OTT platform Voot.

    Reliance Projects and Property Management Services Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries which has significant presence in television, OTT, distribution, content creation, and production services, will invest Rs 1,645 crore. In addition, the popular JioCinema OTT app will be transferred to Viacom18.

    Paramount Global (formerly known as ViacomCBS), a leading global media and entertainment company comprised of iconic content studios, TV networks and streaming services including CBS, Showtime Networks, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, BET, Paramount+ and Pluto TV will continue as a shareholder of Viacom18 and will continue to supply Viacom18 its premium global content.

    Bodhi Tree Systems, a newly formed platform between Lupa Systems founder and CEO James Murdoch and Uday Shankar, the former president of The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific and former Chairman of Star and Disney India, will leverage the partners’ shared track record of building iconic businesses and shaping the media landscape in India and globally. Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar, is an investor in Bodhi Tree Systems.

    “James and Uday’s track record is unmatched,” said Reliance Industries Ltd chairman and managing director Mukesh D Ambani. “For over two decades, they have played an undeniable role in shaping the media ecosystem in India, Asia, and around the world. We are very excited to partner with Bodhi Tree and lead India’s transition to a streaming-first media market. We are committed to bringing the best media and entertainment services for Indian customers through this partnership.”

    “We could not be more pleased to announce our new partnership,” Murdoch and Shankar said in a joint statement. “Our ambition is to leverage technology advances, particularly in mobile, to provide meaningful solutions to meet everyday media and entertainment needs at scale. We seek to reshape the entertainment experience across more than one billion screens.”

    Upon closing, Viacom18, in close cooperation with Reliance, Bodhi Tree Systems and Paramount Global, will shape a vision, strategy, and execution for its businesses, building on the strong existing foundation. Viacom18 is amongst the leading players in the core linear television business with 38 channels across nine languages and a pan India presence.

    The transaction is expected to close within six months and is subject to closing conditions and requisite approvals.

  • Uday Shankar, James Murdoch launch investment platform with $1.5 billion corpus

    Uday Shankar, James Murdoch launch investment platform with $1.5 billion corpus

    Mumbai: Uday Shankar and James Murdoch’s private investment company Lupa Systems has announced that it is forming Bodhi Tree, an investment platform that will be financially supported by the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA).

    This new venture is designed to invest in media and consumer technology opportunities in Southeast Asia, with a particular focus on India. It will be run by Murdoch and Shankar as co-chairs, combining decades of experience influencing the region’s media landscape and emerging consumers. QIA will be committing up to $1.5 billion in Bodhi Tree’s vision being pursued by Murdoch and Shankar.

    “Bodhi Tree will leverage technology to provide disruptive solutions that drive transformational outcomes in sectors with deep consumer engagement – including media, education and healthcare – to positively impact millions of consumers across the region. Bodhi Tree will be investing at scale to achieve these outcomes,” said the statement.

    “We are very pleased to announce Bodhi Tree,” said Murdoch and Shankar. “Opportunities abound to scale exciting businesses in India and the broader Southeast Asia region. Our continued focus on investing and building relationships in these regions comes from our deep conviction in the long-term growth of these economies and the incredible power of these consumers, as these sectors are transformed by technology.”

    “QIA is proud to play a key role in bringing Bodhi Tree to reality,” said QIA CEO Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud. “QIA is investing in the technology and media space and India is a key market for us. QIA looks forward to backing Bodhi Tree as they drive forward their growth plans in the future.”

    James Murdoch was the chief executive officer of 21st Century Fox between 2015 and 2019. Uday Shankar is the former chairman and CEO of Star India and former president of Walt Disney Asia Pacific.

    In January, media reports indicated that Murdoch and Shankar were in talks with ViacomCBS and Reliance Industries to pick up a 40 per cent stake in Viacom18, the entertainment network jointly owned by TV18 and ViacomCBS.

  • James Murdoch & Uday Shankar go the SPAC way to fund new venture

    James Murdoch & Uday Shankar go the SPAC way to fund new venture

    KOLKATA: Former top Disney executive Uday Shankar and Lupa Systems founder and CEO James Murdoch are getting on the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) rush. Months after joining forces for a new media and tech venture, the dynamic duo is looking to raise $345 million for the same.

    New York-based Seven Islands Inc, backed by Lupa Systems, has floated a blank check to raise the fund in a prospectus published on Tuesday. The company led by co-chairman Murdoch will focus on south and south-east Asia. India will be of particular focus for potential mergers.

    “While our efforts to identify a prospective target business will not necessarily be limited to a particular industry, sector or region, we intend to capitalise on our expertise in the media, entertainment, consumer technology, healthcare, and education industries in southeast and south Asia, with a particular focus on India,” the prospectus read.

    It further added: “Our acquisition and value creation strategy is to identify, acquire and, after our initial business combination, fundamentally enhance the value of a company in the public markets.”

    The one-time scion, Murdoch had exited his family’s media empire to found his own holding company Lupa Systems in 2019. Lupa entered India less than two years ago and has built a portfolio of technology investments. The company has offices in New York and Mumbai. He subsequently quit as a director of News Corp in July last year.

    Early this year, he announced his new venture along with former chairman & CEO of Star India and president of Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific Uday Shankar, to explore technology and media opportunities in emerging markets.

    “As connectivity continues to accelerate and expand across South Asia and the whole region, new opportunities for innovation, across consumer sectors, will multiply…I have every confidence that we can harness technology, enterprise, and tremendous talent to create a great business that is also great for society,” Murdoch had said at the time of the announcement.

    The duo worked together building Star India into the region’s largest media company, prior to its sale as part of the merger of 21st Century Fox and The Walt Disney Company. Shankar is also credited with consolidating Star’s sports broadcasting operations through 21st Century Fox’s acquisition of its joint venture with ESPN.

  • The future belongs to creator-led franchises: James Murdoch

    The future belongs to creator-led franchises: James Murdoch

    New Delhi: Creator-led franchises will be more powerful and more profitable in the years to come if they can take a little more risk and own their IPs, said James Murdoch former chief executive officer of 21st Century Fox and now the founder & CEO of private holding company Lupa Systems.

    As the streaming war rages on, Murdoch said it will put a lot of pressure on the content creators, leading to a huge demand for their services in near future. “The real question is what the creative output is going to look like in these conglomerates. There will be more value for creators in the future, not just in terms of selling for a high price and on a work for hire basis,” he detailed while delivering the keynote address at the annual APOS conference which began virtually on Tuesday.

    According to Murdoch, author ownership will become common, as more creators would not want to sell their work forever and a day.

    Talking about the Indian market, he noted that while some multinationals may be frustrated by bureaucracy or having the wrong local partners, ultimately India is a transparent marketplace, not very top-down but driven by ideas and entrepreneurs, and a consumer economy that is going to grow for a long time.

    “I see a lot of opportunities there, especially when you get into towns and villages where distribution revolution is most profound. Digital connectivity will open vast opportunities for society, logistics, education and it is going to be exciting for entrepreneurs as well as customers if done right,” he said. “The broader media sector is continuing to grow, but it is going to be a chaotic and tumultuous few years in terms of how it shapes in India. There is cutthroat competition in down streaming, complexities of legacy distributions, it is a very disaggregated production environment. But it will be interesting.”

    The one-time scion exited his family's media empire to found his own holding company Lupa Systems in 2019. Early this year, he announced his new venture along with former chairman & CEO of Star India and president of Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific Uday Shankar, to explore technology and media opportunities in emerging markets.

    Highlighting how several big media companies have been seeking to scale to compete in the streaming environment, Murdoch said, the question is not if it's right to scale, but how many of these companies will be more profitable than they were in the past. “Avoiding the loss of value is great, but near survival does not create value. The downstream competition is going to be intense for a long time whether it's Amazon or Netflix. If you try to compete with the mass market, you have to have an amazing user experience and lots of good programming,” he added.

    On founding Lupa Systems in 2019, Murdoch said he wanted to explore areas of long-term consequences. “The more exciting opportunity was to do something entrepreneurial with a small team, but also focus on future questions, especially with all legacy businesses adopting digital,” he shared.

    Run by the regional consultancy Media Partners Asia, the three-day conference kicked off on Tuesday, with the keynote address by Murdoch. Asia's influential media and entertainment industry conference is traditionally organised in Indonesia, but is being held virtually this year due to pandemic restrictions.