Zee Entertainment brand is displayed in this illustration picure.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Media main Zee Entertainment on December 17 stated it has sought an extension in the December 21, 2023 deadline of its proposed merger with Culver Max Entertainment (CMEPL), previously generally known as Sony Pictures Networks India.
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) had approached Culver Max and Bangla Entertainment Pvt Ltd (BEPL) for an extension in the deadline to finish the proposed merger, which is able to create India’s largest media conglomerate, stated regulatory updates.
“We hereby inform you that under the Merger Cooperation Agreement dated December 22, 2021, entered into amongst the Company, BEPL and CMEPL, the Company has requested CMEPL and BEPL to extend the Date required to make the Scheme effective, as per the terms of the Merger Cooperation Agreement,” ZEEL stated.
CMEPL is an oblique wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation (SGC). BEPL can also be an oblique wholly-owned subsidiary of SGC and part of the SGC Group.
The proposed $10-billion merger of ZEEL, BEPL and CMEPL has acquired regulatory approvals from truthful commerce regulator CCI, bourses NSE and BSE, shareholders and collectors of the corporate.
In August this yr, the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) additionally gave a go-ahead to the merger of ZEEL and Culver Max Entertainment. As per the agreements, ZEEL MD and CEO Punit Goenka has to steer the merger entity. However, in accordance with some reviews, now CMEPL is insisting on making approach for its Sony Pictures Network head N P Singh.
This adopted an interim order by Sebi barring Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd MD and CEO Punit Goenka from holding the place of a director or key managerial personnel in any listed firm. The market regulator took the motion after they had been discovered diverting funds from the corporate.
Chandra and Goenka moved the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) difficult the Sebi interim order. In October, SAT quashed the Sebi interim order.
Earlier in September 2021, then Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) and ZEEL had entered right into a non-binding time period sheet to convey collectively their linear networks, digital property, manufacturing operations and programme libraries.
The mixed entity will personal over 70 TV channels, two video streaming companies (ZEE5 and Sony LIV) and two movie studios (Zee Studios and Sony Pictures Films India), making it the most important leisure community in India.
Subsequently, the 2 events signed a definitive settlement for their merger in December 2022.
As per the settlement, ZEEL’s chief government Punit Goenka was to steer the mixed firm as its Managing Director & CEO.
The majority of the board of administrators of the mixed entity could be nominated by the Sony Group and embrace the present SPNI Managing Director and CEO N P Singh.
However, questions over the way forward for the merger arose after SEBI’s actions in opposition to Chandra and Goenka for siphoning off funds of ZEEL.
The proposed merger has already been accepted by the shareholders of ZEEL and sectoral regulators together with the Competition Commission of India.
