DECEMBER 20238TOP STORIESRELIANCE & DISNEY FINALIZE TERMS ON MERGER OF THEIR MEDIAHINDALCO INDUSTRIES TO SET UP ALUMINUM BATTERY MANUFACTURING UNITReliance Industries (RIL) and Walt Disney Co. are finalizing talks on a non-binding term sheet to move ahead with its plan to merge its Indian media and entertainment businesses, executives involved in the matter said. It would give Mukesh Ambani's group a controlling stake in the company, becoming the country's largest media and entertainment company if the deal goes through.The current plan is to create a spin-off subsidiary of RIL's Viacom18 that will merge with Star India through a share swap, the people cited above said. They said that Reliance aims to own at least a 51 percent stake in the combined company, with Disney owning the remaining 49 percent. Since the two companies are similar, RIL will likely pay a fee for the managing bank.The two sides are also negotiating a business plan to inject $1 billion to $1.5 billion as an immediate investment. The final shareholding structure of the company is determined, and its value is determined based on each party's financial situation.At least two directors from Reliance and Disney are expected to have equal representation on the board. Uday Shankar-led Bodhi Tree makes Viacom18 the second largest shareholder after Reliance, with 15.97 percent. We propose two external directors. The people mentioned above said this may change in the coming weeks. Hindalco Industries said on Dec 12 it will invest 8 billion rupees ($96 million) to set up an aluminum battery manufacturing plant to expand into the electric vehicle market in India, the world's third-largest auto market.This plant, which is scheduled to be completed in eastern Odisha, will start operations in July 2025 and will produce 25,000 tonnes of aluminum alloy, a key component of lithium-ion batteries, essential for secondary batteries used in electric vehicles ( EV), the Aditya Birla Group company said in a statement.Hindalco Industries, an Indian aluminum and copper manufacturing company, is a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Group. Based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.On 11 February 2007, the company entered into an agreement to acquire the American company Novelis for $6 billion, making the combined entity the world's largest rolled aluminum producer. In 2007, Novelis was the world's largest producer of rolled aluminum and a major recycler of aluminum cans. On 15 May 2007, the acquisition was completed, with Novelis shareholders receiving $44.93 per outstanding share of common stock.Hindalco, through its wholly owned subsidiary AV Metals Inc., acquired 75,415,536 common shares of Novelis, representing 100 percent of the issued and outstanding common shares. Immediately after closing, AV Metals Inc. transferred the common shares of Novelis to its wholly-owned subsidiary AV Aluminum Inc.
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