Asia Tech Wire (Feb 26) -- The Walt Disney Co. and Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) have signed an agreement to merge their media businesses in India, according to a Bloomberg update.

Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported on Sunday that Disney and Reliance have signed a binding agreement to merge their media businesses in India.

Sources familiar with the matter expect the two companies to announce the deal earlier this week, India's Economic Times reported on Monday.

RIL's media arm Viacom18 and its affiliates have a stake of at least 61% in the merged entity, with Disney holding the remaining stake, people familiar with the matter said.

Disney has agreed to sell 60% of its Indian media business to Viacom18 at a valuation of $3.9 billion (Rs 33,000 crore), as per a previous Wall Street Journal report.

In fact, back in late December last year, news broke that the two companies had signed a non-binding term sheet in London in London for merging their Indian media operations.