The National Company Law Tribunal’s (NCLT) Mumbai bench has reportedly asked Zee Entertainment Enterprises to submit its response to applications lodged by Sony Group entities within a fortnight.
Culver Max Entertainment and Bangla Entertainment, units of the Sony Group, have submitted two applications disputing the validity of Zee Entertainment’s request for the execution of the merger scheme.
Sony pulls out of the $10 billion merger
On January 22, Sony terminated the proposed $10 billion merger with Zee first announced in December 2021, citing Zee’s failure to fulfil certain financial terms outlined in the deal and provide a viable plan to rectify the situation, as reported by Reuters.
In response, Zee refuted the allegations in a letter addressed to Sony, and accused the Japanese conglomerate of acting in ‘bad faith’ by calling off the merger.
Also read: Zee’s failure to meet financial terms made Sony scrap the merger deal
According to reports, the legal representative for Zee contended that if the maintainability applications are addressed on March 12, Zee would face challenges in filing timely responses, particularly if Sony insists on submitting rejoinders before the mentioned date.
On February 6, NCLT had issued a notice to Culver Max (formerly Sony Pictures Networks) in response to an application filed by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. NCLT has granted a hearing to the plea of Mad Men Film, a Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited shareholder seeking the execution of the terminated merger.
Also read: Sony officially pulls out of $10 billion Zee merger