Global asset management company Invesco, which had locked horns with the promoters of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEEL) for control of the company, has decided to sell 5.5% of the broadcaster company for up to Rs. 1,396 crore. It owns 11% of Zee. OFI Global China Fund and other funds managed by Invesco’s developing markets equity investment team mandated Kotak Securities to sell nearly 5.3 crore Zee shares through block deals on October 16.
The move came three days after Zee’s shareholders approved the merger of the company with Sony Pictures Networks India (now Culver Max Entertainment).
At one point, Invesco owned 18.8% of Zee, making it the biggest shareholder in the media company but with no position on its Board. In April 2022, after a seven-month long legal battle with Zee and its founders, it sold 7.8% in the company for Rs. 2,172 crore via block deals. The fund had to follow a six-month cooling-off period before it resumed a fresh stake-sale activity.
In April, Invesco had said that it was retaining 11% in Zee as it believed that “the Sony deal in its current form has great potential for the company’s shareholders”. Although Invesco backed the merger from day one, it was against certain terms that, it felt, favoured the founding family of Punit Goenka at the expense of ordinary shareholders.