Zee wants Sony to pay ₹750 crore for calling off $10-billion merger deal

Sony had said ZEEL failed to satisfy merger conditions and initiated arbitration proceedings before Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) sought termination fee of ₹750 crore from Sony Pictures Networks India for calling off the $10-billion merger deal in January. Zee said in a stock exchange filing, “Culver Max and BEPL have failed to comply with their obligations under the Merger Cooperation Agreement (MCA). Therefore, the Company has terminated the MCA and called upon Culver Max and BEPL to pay the termination fee i.e. the aggregate amount equal to USD 90,000,000, in accordance with the MCA.”

Zee-Sony merger deal: Zee Entertainment and SONY logos are displayed in this illustration. (Reuters)

Earlier, Sony had said ZEEL failed to satisfy merger conditions and initiated arbitration proceedings before Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) claiming $90 million as termination fees. In response, ZEEL had initiated legal actions to contest the claims by Sony Group.

ZEEL also filed a petition before the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Later Singapore International Arbitration Centre denied Sony Group's plea seeking interim relief against ZEEL.

Why Sony called off Zee merger?

Sony in January announced the termination of the deal with ZEEL as it accused the company of not meeting closing conditions even after extending their closing period by a month. The proposed merger was announced more than two years ago. ZEEL said that it was willing to meet most of the conditions.

Zee quarterly results

Zee reported a quarterly profit for March quarter of ₹13.35 crore from a year-ago loss of ₹196 crore as domestic advertising revenue for the quarter rose nearly 11% year-on-year and the company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization margins expanded to 9.7% from 7.2% a year earlier.