Zee Ent Shares Drop 10% Following Sony Reports To Call For Merger; Details

Tuesday morning saw a 10% decline in shares of Zee Entertainment, an Indian broadcaster. The previous day, Bloomberg had reported that Sony, a Japanese company, was considering abandoning its $10 billion deal to combine with Zee Entertainment.

According to the newspaper, which cited insiders, Punit Goenka’s leadership of the combined company is causing Sony to consider canceling the agreement. It further said that, in light of a regulatory investigation, Sony did not want Goenka to be CEO. According to the article, Sony intends to issue the notice of termination by January 20.

Market watchdog SEBI had prohibited Subhash Chandra and Punit Goenka from being in any prominent management roles at Zee Entertainment until they had finished their investigation, which was scheduled to conclude in August 2023.

Punit Goenka, as the MD and CEO of Zee Entertainment, returned on October 30, 2023, after the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) reversed SEBI’s prohibition.

Karan Taurani of Elara Capital said that it is premature to conclude that the acquisition would be canceled in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

He went on to say that there is little chance Punit Goenka will jeopardize the merger and that everyone should wait for additional information.

Zee Entertainment’s shares are now trading 10% down at ₹251.95. Throughout the last 12 months, the stock has stayed between ₹180 and ₹300 as concerns about the merger have persisted.

In several block sales earlier this morning, 1.35 crore shares of Zee Entertainment, or 1.4% of the company’s stock worth ₹340.1 crore, changed hands. It’s unknown who the transaction’s buyers and sellers are.

Furthermore, shares of Zee Entertainment are now prohibited from being added to the F&O list, which implies that no new positions may be opened in the company. The stock has not been this low since December 22. The company’s market capitalization has fallen below ₹25,000 crore after today’s decline.

Due to transaction uncertainty, the broadcasting company’s stock has only increased by 6% over the last six months compared to a 10% increase in the Nifty Media index.

The stock dropped 1.63 percent from the previous closing on January 8 to settle at Rs 278.45 on the National Stock Exchange.