Zee Entertainment managing director and chief executive officer Punit Goenka has said that they are in “active engagement” over the company’s merger with Sony Pictures Networks India, now Culver Max Entertainment. His comments came ahead of reports that the merger is now stalled due to a last-minute demand.
During the September quarter earnings call, Goenka said, “We have an active engagement with Sony on various parts of the scheme to be finally implemented after getting all the approvals. We have received the approval of the Mumbai bench of NCLT,” as mentioned in a report in Moneycontrol.
Goenka further stated that they are committed to address all the points in the proposed merger . He said that they recognise the value of the merger and that they want to unlock opportunity for all the shareholders.
The comments came ahead of a report that stated that the talks of merger between Zee Entertainment and Sony’s India arm have stalled as the latter demanded the merged entity be run by its executive instead of Punit Goenka, as mentioned by Livemint. This is in deference to the agreement signed on December 21, 2021, when the two parties agreed for Goenka, the MD and CEO, to continue in his current role.
The Zee and Culver Max merger has been approved by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). However, Goenka had to step down after a Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) order barred him from holding any managerial positions in the company and other firms. On October 30, the Sebi order was set aside by the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT).
Reports have stated that Culver Max has already named its executive to head the merged entity.
Meanwhile, Zee Entertainment reported a 9 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 123 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2023, as against consolidated net profit of Rs 113 crore in the year-ago period.
The media firm's total income rose 23 per cent to Rs 2,510 crore in Q2FY24 as against Rs 2,040 crore in Q2FY23. The firm's revenue rose 20 per cent to Rs 2,438 crore in Q2FY24 as compared to Rs 2,024 crore in Q2FY23.
Also read: ZEEL Q2 results: Net profit rises 9% to Rs 123 cr