According to ET Now, an Indian tribunal court has decided against placing a halt on the $10 billion media conglomerate Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) and Sony’s proposed merger.
Following the news, Zee’s stock increased and reached a day’s high of Rs 286.50. On the BSE Sensex, which was up 0.7% at 70,980 and was continuing its record climb, it was last trading 1.6% higher.
However, notice of the plea contesting the mammoth merger has been issued by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). The case is scheduled for a hearing on January 8.
Prior to the merger of Zee Entertainment Enterprise with Culver Max Entertainment, previously Sony Pictures Networks India, creditors IDBI Bank and Axis Finance have filed appeals. They had contested the National Company Law Tribunal’s (NCLT) August 10, 2023, Mumbai bench’s merger approval ruling. Requests for approval of the merger were turned down by the NCLT in response to applications by IDBI Trusteeship, IDBI Bank, Axis Finance, JC Flowers Asset Reconstruction Co., and Imax Corp.
By filing an appeal with the NCLAT, IDBI and Axis Finance challenged this ruling.
Justice (retd) Ashok Bhushan convened the panel that heard the cases during the NCLAT’s most recent session on October 31.
The Zee-Sony merger plan had faced opposition from a number of operational and financial creditors at the NCLT. The Indian Performing Rights Society (IPRS), IndusInd Bank, and IDBI Bank have all struck a settlement with the corporation.
The Bombay High Court denied Axis Finance’s request to plead Zee, Essel Mauritius, and Sony in its commercial summary suit against ZEEL promoter Subhash Chandra Goenka and others in August 2023. Subhash Chandra Goenka was the target of the company’s attempt to recoup Rs 146 crore.
Sony and ZEEL inked formal negotiations to merge in December 2021. With the founders of ZEEL holding 3.99% and the remaining ZEEL shareholders holding 45.15%, Sony will indirectly own 50.86% of the combined firm.
In December 2021, Sony and Zee agreed to merge. In eight or ten months, the deal was supposed to close. Two years later, it still hasn’t been finished because of the Sebi injunction against the company’s promoters and the lawsuits brought by financial institutions against ZEEL.
After everything is said and done, the merger will create a multibillion dollar media conglomerate that will be a leader in TV, OTT, and content production. The combined revenue of ZEEL and Sony was about Rs 15,000 crore, according to the FY23 financials.
