Comcast invests in James Murdoch’s Bodhi Tree Systems as Viacom18 merger completes

NBCU and Sky owner Comcast have invested in James Murdoch’s Bodhi Tree Systems, which in turn will become a key player in a revamped Viacom18.

Comcast-owned NBCUniversal Media paid an undisclosed amount for a stake in Bodhi Tree, which former Fox CEO Murdoch founded last year with former star and Disney India chairman Uday Shankar. The Competition Commission of India approved the investment on Wednesday.

Bodhi Tree used part of it to fund a minority stake in Indian media group Viacom18, which now has a new shareholder structure after finalizing a proposed partnership with Mukesh Ambani’s conglomerate Reliance Industries and Paramount Global yesterday.

In fact, the trio consolidated locally into a major TV and film player. Reliance’s streaming and pay TV service JioCinema is notably integrated into TV broadcaster and streaming operator Viacom18. JioCinema owns the rights to the hugely popular Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket after Viacom18 outbid its rivals in an auction last year.

The complicated series of financial deals left Viacom18’s new shareholder structure, in which Reliance owns nearly 51% and Paramount owns just under 49%, while Bodhi Tree owns 0.11%.

However, the Bodhi tree plays a much more important role than it might seem. First, it takes a 17.8% stake in convertible preferred stock (effectively split, which can later be converted into common stock or cash), and Shankar has taken a seat on Viacom’s 18 board. Reliance owns the remaining convertible shares.

If all shares are diluted, Reliance will own 60.4%, Bodhi Tree 13.1%, Paramount 13%, and TV18, another company ultimately owned by Reliance, the remaining 13.5%.

Bodhi Tree last year pledged to raise 13,500 crore ($1.6 billion) to invest in Viacom18, then owned by Indian manufacturing and media giant Reliance.

Viacom18 will have access to about $1.9 billion in cash for growth, about two-thirds of which will come from Reliance and the other third from Bodhi Tree, which also includes the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the state’s sovereign wealth fund. will include Qatar among its investors. According to a report, Bodhi Tree will now approach more investors to raise the rest of the funds committed to Viacom18.

Murdoch, son of Fox Corp owner Rupert, was CEO of 21st Century Fox between 2015 and 2019, but left the company when it was sold to Disney. He was also chairman of Sky, where he was previously chief executive, but left in 2018 when Comcast acquired the European pay-TV business. He later left his father’s News Corp operations and has since focused on investing in new businesses, first through his Lupa Systems and later Bodhi Tree when he joined forces with Shankar.