Speculations on the Zee-Sony merger falling apart are perhaps not all true. Sony Group is currently in discussions to merge its Indian subsidiary with Zee Entertainment Enterprises, reported Tokyo-based news publisher Nikkei.The discussions are reportedly slated to extend until January 20.
Sony Group Corp. was reportedly considering abandoning the $10 billion merger deal with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. over disagreements on Zee CEO Punit Goenka leading the merged entity.
In August 2023, days after the NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) approved the Zee-Sony merger, SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) issued an order that prevented Goenka and his father Subhash Chandra from assuming any significant management roles in Zee companies or the newly-merged entity.
This was followed by the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) expressing dissatisfaction with SEBI’s order. Soon after, on October 30, SAT overturned SEBI’s decision prohibiting Goenka from holding any managerial position in listed companies for a year.
Then speculation began. Sources close to developments said Sony Group Corp pushed for its own India MD and CEO, NP Singh, to become the CEO of the newly formed Zee-Sony entity due to stringent corporate governance norms in Japan and the US. But per the initial agreement, Goenka was slated to assume the role of MD and CEO in the merged venture. SPNI (Sony Pictures Networks India) was intended to hold 50.86 percent of the company, Zee’s promoters would have 3.99 percent, and the remaining 45.15 percent was to be allocated to public shareholders. Neither Zee nor Sony wanted to move from their leadership candidature.
However in a regulatory filing on Tuesday, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited claimed that the merger was on track.
“We wish to reiterate that the company is committed to the merger with Sony and is continuing to work towards a successful closure of the proposed merger,” their statement said.