Zee Entertainment Share Price Hits 10% Lower Circuit after Sony Calls Off Merger

Zee Entertainment‘s share price tumbled 10 percent hitting a lower circuit on January 23. This comes after Sony India scrapped its merger with Zee.

Sony has decided to cancel the merger, pointing to delays in finalizing the deal by the deadline and failures in fulfilling the closing conditions stipulated in the agreement. Additionally, the company is pursuing a $90 million termination fee due to purported violations of the Merger Cooperation Agreement (MCA).

Sony Group Corporation issued a termination notice for the merger of Sony Pictures Networks India Private Ltd. and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd.

“Sony Pictures Networks India Private Ltd. (now known as Culver Max Entertainment Limited), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation, issued a notice terminating the definitive agreements entered into by SPNI and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. relating to the merger of ZEEL with and into SPNI, which was previously announced on December 22, 2021,” the press release said.

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“The definitive agreements provided that if the Merger did not close by the date twenty-four months after their signature date (the “End Date”), the parties would be required to discuss in good faith an extension of the End Date required to make the Merger effective by a reasonable period. Such discussions were required to
be held for a period ending thirty days after the End Date (the “Discussion Period”),” it added.

“The definitive agreements further provided that if the parties are unable to agree upon such an extension by the end of the Discussion Period, any party could terminate the definitive agreements by providing written notice. The Merger did not close by the End Date as, among other things, the closing conditions of the Merger were not satisfied by then. SPNI has been engaged in discussions in good faith to extend the End Date but the Discussion Period has expired without an agreement upon an extension of the End Date. As a result, on January 22, 2024, SPNI issued a notice to ZEEL terminating the definitive agreements.”

“Sony has not included the impact of the Merger in its consolidated financial results forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, which was announced on November 9, 2023, and does not anticipate any material impact on its consolidated financial results as a result of the termination of the definitive agreements for the Merger,” the release further said.

At 10:27 AM, Zee Entertainment’s share price was trading at Rs 208.30 per share on NSE, down 10 percent or Rs 23.10.

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