RIL to combine Saavn with JioMusic

Mumbai : Reliance Industries (RIL) on Friday said that it has executed definitive agreements for combination of Saavn, a leading global music OTT (over-the-top) platform, with its digital music service -- JioMusic.

According to the company, the combined entity is valued at over $1 billion, with JioMusic's implied valuation at $670 million. 

Speaking on this strategic transaction, Akash Ambani, Director, Reliance Jio, said: "The investment and combination of our music assets with Saavn underlines our commitment to further boost the digital ecosystem and provide unlimited digital entertainment services to consumers over a strong uninterrupted network."

"We are delighted to announce this partnership with Saavn, and believe that their highly experienced management team will be instrumental in expanding Jio-Saavn to an extensive user base, thereby strengthening our leadership position in the Indian streaming market."

The company said that the integrated business will be developed into a media platform of the future with global reach, cross-border original content, an independent artist marketplace, consolidated data and one of the largest mobile advertising mediums.

"Reliance will also invest up to rupee equivalent of $100 million, out of which rupee equivalent of $20 million will be invested upfront, for growth and expansion of the platform into one of the largest streaming services in the world," RIL said in a statement.

The company further said that it will continue to operate the OTT media platform available on all app stores. 

"The three co-founders of Saavn, Rishi Malhotra, Paramdeep Singh and Vinodh Bhat, will continue in their leadership roles and will drive growth of the combined entity," the statement said.

"In addition, Reliance is acquiring partial stake from the existing shareholders of Saavn for $104 million, while these shareholders retain their balance stake. The shareholder base of Saavn includes Tiger Global Management, Liberty Media and Bertelsmann, among others."

The statement added that the deal will combine the streaming media expertise of Saavn with the connectivity and digital ecosystem of Jio. 

"With a massive addressable market opportunity of over 1 billion users in India and globally, the combined entity plans to invest aggressively to accelerate growth that would benefit all aspects of the ecosystem, including users, music labels, artists and advertisers," the statement added.