Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. said on June 21 that it takes the order of the Indian capital markets regulator, SEBI, against the founder and CEO of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. “very seriously” and would monitor developments that “may affect” the merger deal of the two media conglomerates. This is Sony’s first statement after the Securities and Exchange Board of India banned Zee chairman emeritus Subhash Chandra and his son, Punit Goenka, managing director of the company, from taking up the directorship or holding any key managerial positions in listed entities.
The SEBI order has been challenged by the two aggrieved parties in the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT). If upheld by SAT, it will not be possible for Punit Goenka to become the managing director of the merged Sony-Zee entity, as has been provided in the proposed deal of merger between Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) and Zee. SAT will hear the appeal challenging the SEBI order on June 26. On the same day, the NCLT will also hear the SPNI-Zee merger deal.
Meanwhile, Punit Goenka has said that the Zee-Sony merger will go through whether or not he is the CEO of the merged company, as it would benefit 96% of the stakeholders. Commenting on Sony’s statement that it takes SEBI’s interim order against the Zee promoters very seriously, Goenka said that his frequent interactions with Sony don’t seem to indicate that it is wavering. He added that he was hopeful, the merger would be complete by September, a date given by Sony in a recent statement.
