Very happy about the deal with Reliance: Walt Disney CFO Hugh Johnston

Senior Executive Vice President and CFO of Walt Disney, Hugh Johnston, was speaking during the Disney earnings call on Thursday

by Aditi Gupta
Published: Nov 14, 2024 7:58 PM | 1 min read

Soon after the highly anticipated announcement of the $8.5-billion merger between Reliance and Walt Disney, Disney's CFO expressed enthusiasm about the deal, noting that the Mukesh Ambani-led company is massive and that, moving forward, Disney will hold an ownership stake in the high 30s percentage range.

The ownership breakdown of the new joint venture between Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and Walt Disney is as follows: RIL holds a 16.34% stake, Viacom18 owns 46.82%, and Disney has a 36.84% share.

Walt Disney, while announcing its Q4 2024 and FY2024 financial results, also addressed a question around the topic of divestitures in India and what is the business going to look like for it in India.

Senior Executive Vice President and CFO of Walt Disney, Hugh Johnston said, “We are very happy about the deal with Reliance. They are a huge company and have a huge presence in India. Going forward we'll have a percentage ownership in the high 30s and obviously the Reliance people with their share of ownership will be managing the business.”

Walt Disney on Thursday released its financial results where it posted a revenue jump of 6% in Q4 and 3% jump in FY24 compared to previous year.