Zee Enters Into Settlement Agreement With Sony India; Stock Jumps 15%

Zee Share Price: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd share price jumped as much as 15 per cent today (August 27) after the media firm said it has entered into an agreement to settle all disputes with Sony regarding the termination of the merger.

Both Sony and Zee will withdraw all claims against each other.

Zee said that it will settle all disputes in relation to, arising out of or in connection with transaction with CMEPL and BEPL. The company said the agreement to withdraw all application are before Singapore arbitration centre.

The settlement also includes withdrawing all claims for the $90 million termination fee, damages, litigation and other costs incurred, and all claims for costs of disposition hive-off, spin-off, winding-up, liquidation, closure of business and or any other assets.

In the afternoon trade, Zee stock jumped to an intraday high of Rs 154.9, before cooling off to Rs 147.7, still up about 10 per cent from the previous close.

Zee-Sony Merger

On August 10, 2023, the Mumbai bench of the NCLT approved ZEEL’s plan to merge with BEPL and Culver Max Entertainment, two Sony group companies. This merger could have resulted in the creation of a media company valued at USD 10 billion.

The merger was called off by Sony on January 22. Zee’s inability to meet certain financial terms of the agreement and devise a strategy to rectify them contributed to the decision to make the change. In response to the accusations, Zed said that the Japanese company had acted in “bad faith” when it called off the merger.

The largest entertainment network in the nation would have been created if the Sony-Zee merger had gone through, owning over 70 TV channels, two video streaming services (ZEE5 and Sony LIV), and two movie studios (Zed Studios and Sony Pictures Films India).