Mumbai: After many months of negotiations Sony Group has informed Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEEL) that it plans to scrap the merger between its India unit and ZEEL. The report from Bloomberg noted that Sony sent the termination letter earlier today.
The sticking point has been Punit Goenka insisting on leading the JV. Sony wanted its CEO N.P. Singh to lead the JV. Then reports indicated that as a compromise a third party could lead the JV.
Back in November, there were reports that talks had not moved forward. After two years of talks, the two parties have been unable to find common ground.
In 2021, Sony started talks to merge with Zee, which was prompted by Invesco’s demand that Punit Goenka be removed. The deal valued at $10 billion was supposed to result in the formation of the largest media conglomerate in the Indian Media and Entertainment space.
The news of the merger being called off comes in the backdrop of Disney-Star talking about a merger with Viacom18. That is expected to go through.
For the record, the stock market is shut today. But expect Zee’s share price to take a big hit tomorrow morning.
