Reliance Industries Ltd.'s shares have risen following its announcement of the merger deal with Walt Disney's India unit.

Shares opened at Rs 2,930.00 apiece today, rising 1.59% to Rs 2,957.45 apiece on the NSE. The previous day's closing was at Rs 2,911.25.

It traded 1.38% higher at Rs 2,951.45 per share, compared to a 0.07% advance in the benchmark NSE Nifty 50 at 9:32 a.m.

According to media reports quoting Motilal Oswal, the merger will give RIL a large pie in the media business.

If the consolidated entity becomes successful in the hyper-India market, it will raise the value of Disney's stake eventually, said a media report quoting Morgan Stanley.
RIL, Viacom 18 Media Private Limited and The Walt Disney Company on Wednesday announced the signing of binding definitive agreements to form a joint venture(JV) that will combine the businesses of Viacom18 and Star India.

As part of the transaction, the media undertaking of Viacom18 will be merged into Star India Private Limited (“SIPL”) through a court-approved scheme of arrangement. In addition, RIL has agreed to invest at closing ?11,500 crore (US$ 1.4 billion) into the JV for its growth strategy.