Zee Entertainment moves NCLT against Sony for calling off merger

On February 4, SIAC denied emergency interim relief to SPE's Culver Max Entertainment, previously known as Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) and Bangla Entertainment against Zee, stating it has no jurisdiction to prevent Zee from approaching NCLT and that the tribunal is the appropriate forum to handle the dispute.

Sony has announced the termination of its 2021 merger agreement with Zee and is seeking $90 million in termination fees. Zee, in response, refuted the claims made by Sony and emphasized its commitment to protecting stakeholders' long-term interests. Zee is evaluating options and plans to contest Culver Max and BEPL's claims through legal action and arbitration proceedings to safeguard its position.

Zee Entertainment, an Indian broadcasting firm, has filed a petition with the National Company Law Tribunal against Culver Max Entertainment (previously Sony Pictures India), urging the Japan-based company to rescind the termination of the merger scheme. Zee Entertainment made this announcement in a stock exchange filing on Wednesday days after merger agreement was terminated.

In 2021, Sony and Zee entered a deal to create a $10 billion entertainment firm. However, their talks fell through and Sony called off the deal in January 2024.

Sony Group and Zee Entertainment called off their planned media merger in India in January, with the Japanese company accusing Zee to have failed to meet merger agreement conditions. Following the failure, Sony filed an arbitration application in Singapore, seeking a termination fee from Zee.

The Punit Goenka-led firm moved the tribunal seeking directions to implement the merger.

Zee denied Sony's claims that it breached its obligations under the deal and has started legal action to contest the claims in arbitration proceedings before the Singapore International Arbitration Centre

In January, Culver Max Entertainment (previously Sony Pictures Network India) called off the $10-billion merger with ZEEL after it claimed that Zee failed to meet some financial terms of the deal and come up with a plan to address them.

Zee Entertainment's plea seeking the implementation of merger with Sony Pictures' India arm will be taken up by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on March 12. Zee's share prices climbed after the NCLT listed the plea. The merger scheme, which would've created a $10 billion media entity, was approved by NCLT's Mumbai bench in August 2023. However, Sony terminated the agreement in January due to delays and lack of consensus over leadership of the merged entity. Zee has also approached the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) for implementation of the merger agreement.

Zee said, We would like to clarify that the company has not involved in any negotiations, or any other event as stated in the above-mentioned article, and we categorically confirm that the abovementioned news item is factually incorrect.