Paramount in talks to sell India TV joint venture stake to Reliance

Paramount Global is in discussions to sell its stake in its media joint venture in India to Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter, as Asia’s richest man continues to consolidate his clout in one of the world’s fastest-growing entertainment markets. The New York-based media company has been in advanced talks to sell its minority stake in Viacom18 Media Pvt. to Reliance, said the people, who asked to not to be identified as the information is private. Talks between Paramount and Reliance are still ongoing and may not result in a deal, the people said. Paramount, the parent of CBS, MTV and other networks, has been selling assets, such as its Simon & Schuster book publishing arm, to reduce debt. It’s also weighing an offer from producer David Ellison to buy out the Redstone family’s controlling stake in the company and merge his Skydance Media studio into Paramount. Bloomberg Intelligence estimated a sale of the Viacom18 position could generate as much as $550 million that Paramount could use toward debt reduction.