Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. has asked Sony Pictures Networks India (now known as Culver Max Entertainment) to push back the deadline of December 21, 2023 for their merger, to make the scheme effective. Sony is expected to review the request.
Zee and Sony had inked a merger agreement on December 22, 2021 to combine their linear networks, digital assets, production operations and programme libraries. But the merger hasn’t been finalised as yet, mainly because of the regulatory investigations and a legal case against Zee promoters Subhash Chandra and his managing director-son, Punit Goenka. The merger agreement provides for an extension of the merger deadline thrice. In a regulatory filing by Zee on December 17, it said that it had requested Sony to extend the deadline.
The deadlock has been caused over the issue of who would helm the merged entity. While Sony has the right to nominate the majority of the board members of the merged entity, the agreement stipulates that Punit Goenka will be the managing director and CEO of the new company. However, due to Punit facing an investigation by markets regulator SEBI, Sony is wary of appointing him as the MD and CEO. It has been pushing its candidate, N.P. Singh, as the one to lead the merged company.
The final order of SEBI on the Zee promoters will be out once it completes its investigation in a securities violation case.
Zee also said on December 16 that two of its independent directors, Vivek Mehra and Sasha Mirchandani, failed to receive the required number of votes to secure their re-appointment ahead of the December 21 merger deadline.