NCLT reserves order in Zee-Sony merger matter

The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has reserved its decision on the merger scheme between Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE) and Culver Max Entertainment (Sony).

The division bench, consisting of judicial member HV Subba Rao and technical member Madhu Sinha, has reserved the order regarding the scheme, allowing the involved parties to submit their written arguments, according to media reports.

Senior counsel Janak Dwarkadas, representing Zee, submitted that the non-creditor objectors, who are not the company's creditors, are holding the merger to ransom.

According to Dwarkadas, the public shareholding of Zee stands at 96.01%, with 70% of it being held by public institutions.

He argued, "Currently, 70% of the equity is held by the public institutions, who are lenders, while about 25.88% is held by public non-institutions, and merely 3.99% is held by promoters. However, challenging the secured creditor's wisdom for the scheme of merger, they are trying to recover dues, whereas they are not even creditors of Zee.”

“Promoters will come and go but you cannot punish 96% of shareholders because you have a claim against the group entity or Subhash Chandra, or when there’s an order against Punit Goenka. The merger is with the subsidiary of a global conglomerate, whose net worth is $113 billion. Are we seriously suggesting that for objections on debt of ₹1,000 crore, Sony is going to do all this? It is a ridiculous argument,” he added.

The counsel referred to JC Flowers, Axis Finance and Imax Corporation, who have objected to the scheme.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com