Zee Entertainment shares plunge over 30% after Sony terminates merger

Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) witnessed a sharp decline of over 30% in its shares on Tuesday. This came in the wake of Culver Max Entertainment, previously known as Sony Pictures Networks India, terminating its $10-billion merger deal with the Indian media group.

The stock tumbled 32.73% to Rs 155.90 on the BSE.

At the NSE, it plunged 30.47% to Rs 160.90.

On Monday, Culver Max Entertainment terminated merger agreements with Zee Entertainment, which could have otherwise created a $10 billion media enterprise in the country.

"Although we engaged in good faith discussions to extend the end date under the merger cooperation agreement, we were unable to agree upon an extension by the January 21 deadline. After more than two years of negotiations, we are extremely disappointed that closing conditions to the merger were not satisfied by the end date," the company said in a statement.

Sony is also seeking $90 million as compensation for allegedly violating the terms of the merger pact and "invoking arbitration", which ZEEL said it will contest legally.

On the other hand, ZEEL said it has spent Rs 366.59 crore on compliances till September 2023 for its merger with Sony.

On December 17 last year, ZEEL sought an extension of the deadline from Culver Max and Bangla Entertainment (BEPL) under the 2021 agreement. SPNI had initially said that it had not yet agreed to the deadline extension request by ZEEL. But later, it agreed to discuss the matter.

The proposed $10-billion merger had already received regulatory approvals from fair trade regulator CCI, NSE and BSE, shareholders and creditors of the company. In August last year, the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) also gave a go-ahead to the merger.

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