Key Points
Mumbai: The Sony Group's decision to call off its deal with Zee Entertainment Enterprises and seek a termination fee of $90 million (Rs 748 crore) is likely to trigger a messy legal war, with both companies filing cases against each other in multiple judicial forums, lawyers said...
On Monday, Zee informed stock exchanges that Sony Group companies Culver Max Entertainment and Bangla Entertainment terminated the merger co-operation agreement and invoked arbitration to get several reliefs...
Ashish K Singh, managing partner of law firm Capstone Legal, said after the Securities Appellate Tribunal set aside the market regulator's ban on Zee's Punit Goenka from holding any top executive position or directorship in listed entities, there was no legal impediment to the implementation of the terms of the merger which included Goenka being appointed as the head of the merged entity...
"Zee Entertainment can also invoke arbitration and seek interim measures as per the agreement between the parties," he said.. Zee Entertainment has denied all the assertions raised by Culver Max on the alleged "breaches under the agreement terms", including its claim for the termination fee..
If Culver Max has already initiated proceedings for securing interim reliefs and the appointment of the arbitral tribunal, Zee may defend the claim and also file counterclaims for damages due to the termination of agreement, said Ruchi Khatlawala Pandya, partner at law firm Little & Co..
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