Reliance Big Entertainment buys majority stake in US-based cricket portal Willow TV

According to Rajesh Sawhney, president of Reliance Entertainment, the company will be paying between $60-70 million to purchase 75 percent stake in the California-based web company and expand the company's business operations.

The acquisition, Sawhney said, is part of Reliance ADA Group's "strategy to strengthen our presence in the global markets and reinforce our group's presence in new media."

"There is considerable scope to expand the size and scale of Willow TV portal," he said.

"We are very happy to be a part of the Reliance ADA Group and excited at the prospect of scaling up the business manifold. There is complete convergence of vision between Willow and Reliance Big Entertainment. The synergies from the ecosystem will enable us to offer a significantly superior product to our consumers across three screens: PC, Mobile and TV," said Vijay Srinivasan and Sameer Mehta, co-founders, Willow TV.

According to Sawhney, the group is using a three-pronged strategy to bring cricket, movies and telecommunication services to the Indians living in the US and elsewhere. "What we are looking to do is to create a triple play, using three passions that South Asians have," Sawhney said. "One is cricket, one is movies, and the third is communications, as they are the ones who call their families back home mostly."