Sony calls off merger with Zee: Reports

Sony Group Corp. has formally notified Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) that it intends to cancel the merger between its India unit and the media network, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

This marks the conclusion of a two-year acquisition story, putting Zee at risk of increased competition as its rivals strengthen their positions.

According to the Bloomberg report, Sony sent a termination letter to Zee early on Monday and is expected to disclose it to the exchange later.

However, Sony chose not to respond to the query sent by BestMediaInfo.com.

Sony stated that the merger agreement was terminated because the specified conditions were not fulfilled, as mentioned in the letter reviewed by Bloomberg.

The termination comes after a deadlock between the firms regarding the leadership of the combined entity. Sony had reportedly objected to the condition in the term sheet to appoint Zee CEO Punit Goenka as CEO of the merged company amid an investigation into his conduct by India’s capital markets regulator.

Sony issued the termination letter following the conclusion of a 30-day grace period that concluded over the weekend. During this time, the two parties were unable to come to an agreement on a deadline established in late December.

Notably, ZEEL on Friday said it is continuing to work towards a successful closure of its USD 10 billion merger with Sony, amid reports that the Japanese entity's board meeting to take a call on the fate of the protracted deal.

In September 2021, Sony Pictures Networks India and ZEEL entered into a non-binding term sheet to bring together their linear networks, digital assets, production operations and programme libraries.

Subsequently, the two parties signed a definitive agreement for their merger in December 2022.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com