ZEE shares jump as SIAC denies emergency interim relief to Sony

Shares of ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEE) will be in focus on Monday morning as the Emergency Arbitrator denied Sony's application against ZEE in the Singapore International Arbitration Center (SIAC), ZEE said on Sunday. The emergency arbitrator had passed an award, said ZEE, denying the application for emergency interim relief filed by Sony's Indian entities Culver Max and BEPL.

The stock rose 3.44 per cent to hit a high of Rs 179. ZEE shares have fallen 39 per cent in the last month as a host of brokerages cut their target prices on the stock following the termination of the merger deal with the company.

The arbitrator, ZEE said, has determined that it has no jurisdiction or authority to injunct ZEE from approaching the NCLT to implement the merger scheme since these are matters which fall within the statutory system and are for the NCLT to decide".

In 2021, Sony's Indian unit Culver Max Entertainment (CME) and Zee entered a deal to create a $10 billion entertainment company. But ZEE last month suggested that despite conducting numerous deliberations in good faith, the two parties failed to arrive at a consensus on the pending conditions precedent that required action on the part of both ZEE and Culver Max, BEPL under the terms of the MCA.

Sony Group's Culver Max sought a termination fee of $90 million from Zee on account of alleged breaches of the terms of the Merger Co-operation Agreement (MCA). In response, Zee also initiated legal action to contest Culver Max's claims at the SIAC.

Zee has moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), seeking a direction to implement the merger. The firm asserted that Sony Group firm Culver Max and BEPL (Bangla Entertainment Pvt Ltd), which were to be merged with ZEEL, "are in default of their obligations to give effect to" and implement the scheme of merger that was sanctioned by the NCLT.

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