Zee Entertainment clarifies ‘not involved in any negotiations’ with Sony to revive merger deal

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd on Tuesday clarified that the talk of renewed talks with Sony to revive the scrapped merger deal is incorrect and that the company is “not involved in any negotiations”.

Earlier on Tuesday, The Economic Times reported, quoting sources, that ZEEL had re-engaged with Sony Corp to revive the $10-billion merger in a last-ditch effort.

“We would like to clarify that the Company has not been involved in any negotiations,” said Zee Entertainment in a stock exchange filing about a news report on the supposed revival of talks with Sony.

The media firm’s scrip rose over 10 percent intraday on Tuesday. On Tuesday, Zee’s scrip on BSE closed trading 8 percent higher at Rs 193.

“We wish to clarify that the Company is not aware of any information that has not been announced to the exchanges which could explain the movement in the trading,” said Zee.

Representatives from both parties have been working to salvage the deal, with efforts to revive the merger gaining momentum over the past two weeks, ET reported earlier today.

However, there is a chance that the discussions might fail as significant differences remain unresolved and both sides are standing firm on their positions, the report added.

Sony terminated the merger with Zee due to certain unresolved “closing conditions” and leadership disputes, including disagreements over CEO Punit Goenka’s involvement in regulatory issues.

The Zee-Sony merger, in the works for two years, would have created an Indian television juggernaut with more than 90 channels across sports.

Also read: Shareholders write to Zee board seeking details of Sony’s termination letter

Sony Group Corporation (SGC) had said ZEEL did not satisfy the merger conditions and initiated arbitration proceedings before Singapore International Arbitration Center (SIAC) claiming $90 million (around Rs 748.5 crore) as a termination fee.

ZEEL filed a petition before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), seeking a direction to Sony Group to implement the merger scheme.

On February 4, SIAC denied Sony Group’s interim plea to restrain ZEEL from moving NCLT to enforce the failed merger.

Also read: Some layoffs likely at Zee, firm revisits plan as standalone entity after Sony terminates merger

The Mumbai bench of NCLT has already issued notice to Sony over a petition filed in this regard.