
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) may wait before selling sell media rights for the Indian cricket team's bilateral series, scheduled just after the ongoing Indian Premier League, keeping an eye on the Zee-Sony merger. A report in The Economic Times said the richest cricket board in the world is closely watching the Zee-Sony merger deal before issuing the tender for the upcoming bilateral series.
The report further said that BCCI may not be keen to sell the rights for four years (2023-2027) for now and may choose a different tenure.
Till 2017, Sony used to broadcast the money-spinner Indian Premier League on its channel. Then Star India (now Disney Star) picked up the rights.
In 2018, Star Sports India grabbed the BCCI media rights for Rs 6,138.1 crore surpassing Sony and Reliance. The rights were won for both television and digital platforms and were for a period of 2018 to 2023.
At present, Disney Star holds the broadcast and streaming rights of matches on TV and on other digital platforms for all ICC events. It also has the rights to the Asia Cup till this year.
On the other hand, Sony Sports Network holds the rights to broadcast games from England, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
Zee-Sony merger
The merger of the Puneet Goenka-led Zee Entertainment Enterprises with Sony’s India arm, Sony Pictures Networks India, was announced in 2021. After many hurdles and clashes with shareholders, the merger got the go-ahead from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in 2022. It has also received a nod from the stock exchanges.
A non-compete fee of Rs 1,100 crore will also be paid by Sony to the promoters of the Essel Group. Under the terms of the arrangement, Sony will hold a 50.86 per cent stake in the merged entity. The promoters of Zee will hold 3.99 per cent and other Zee shareholders will hold a 45.15 per cent stake in the combined company.
Kenichiro Yoshida, chairman, and chief executive officer, of Sony Corp, recently stated that the merger between Sony and Zee is likely to be completed by the first half of the current fiscal year ending March 31.
But the deal is entangled in a number of legal issues. Earlier this month, market regulator Sebi issued an adverse interim ruling against an entity of the Essel Group that founded Zee.
Following this on May 11, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) directed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) to reassess and validate the non-compete clause of the merger, which was approved by Sebi.
On Thursday, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) said it would hear Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd's appeal on Friday against the order of NCLT, which had directed the stock exchanges to reconsider initial approvals of the Zee-Sony merger.
Last week, the Mumbai bench of NCLT had dismissed IDBI Bank's insolvency plea against Zee Entertainment. IDBI Bank in December 2022 had filed an insolvency resolution petition in NCLT against Zee for the default of over Rs 149 crore.
The multilingual TV network had reportedly offered IDBI Bank to repay a loan of about Rs 149 crore but in tranches.
In March this year, the company repaid dues of IndusInd Bank Ltd., which was one of its creditors. Following this, the lender said it will withdraw its objections against the merger, Zee said in a filing.
Zee’s founders have been in separate discussions with Axis Bank Ltd and JC Flowers & Co.’s asset reconstruction unit to settle dues of Rs 400 million, as per reports.
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