Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. and Sony Pictures Networks India have agreed to settle their disputes over their aborted $10 billion merger deal. The settlement envisages that all complaints and claims from Singapore and Indian courts will be withdrawn.
Under the terms of settlement, both the media houses will have no outstanding obligations and liabilities towards each other. In other words, both will drop their claim of a $90 million termination fee from the other for alleged breach of the merger deal.
In January this year, Sony had called off its merger with Zee, citing unmet closing conditions and had moved the Singapore arbitration court seeking $90 million in break-up fees. Countering Sony’s allegations, Zee had said that it was Sony which had failed to comply with the merger agreement and hence asked Sony to pay the $90 million termination fee. Zee claimed to have spent Rs. 400 crore on merger-related expenses. Zee moved India’s National Company Law Tribunal for the court’s direction to Sony to complete the merger deal. However, Zee in April withdrew its merger implementation application from the Bombay bench of the National Company Law Tribunal.
Zee and Sony on August 27 said that they had entered into a settlement agreement to terminate all disputes with regard to the cancelled merger deal. Both the companies will make separate applications to the Singapore arbitration tribunal and the NCLT in Bombay, withdrawing their petitions and relinquishing their rights against each other relating to the merger deal.
