Disney-Reliance merger will hurt rivals, warns antitrust watchdog

The country’s antitrust body has reached an initial assessment that the $8.5 billion India merger of Reliance and Walt Disney media assets harms competition due to their power over cricket broadcast rights.

In the biggest setback so far to their planned merger, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has privately told Disney and Reliance its view and asked the companies to explain why an investigation should not be ordered, a source said. “Cricket is the biggest pain point for the CCI,” said one of the sources.