Stock of Zee Learn tanks 19% as Yes Bank initiates insolvency proceedings

Second firm after Dish TV where Yes Bank and Essel group promoters at loggerheads

Shares of Zee Learn, part of the Essel group, tumbled 19 per cent on the BSE on Tuesday after Yes Bank initiated insolvency proceedings against the company. The company closed trade at Rs 11.3 apiece, down 19.3 per cent over the previous day's close.

In a disclosure to the stock exchanges on Monday, Zee Learn had said that the private sector lender had moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), claiming that the company had defaulted on a loan of Rs 468 crore.

Zee Learn was in the process of compiling information to verify the facts, it said, adding it would respond appropriately. However, Zee Learn is the second firm after Dish TV where Yes Bank and Essel group promoters are at loggerheads.

The lender is the largest shareholder in Dish TV, with a 25.6 per cent stake in the company, where it has been seeking a change in management. Last month, Essel group chairman Subhash Chandra had said in an interview to Business Standard that the bank would have to decide on its role as a shareholder or lender of Dish TV.

Chandra also said the group was open to exploring multiple options to settle the dispute, including buying back the shares held by the bank, merging Dish TV with one of the rival players such as Airtel and Tata Play, and appointing a mediator to resolve differences.

On Tuesday, shares of Dish TV remained flat on the BSE, closing trade at Rs 16.3 apiece.

Chandra had pledged Dish TV shares, owned by his brother Jawahar Goel, as security for the credit facilities availed by Essel group from Yes Bank.

The lender had claimed that it had extended loans of Rs 5,270 crore to 10 different Essel group entities between 2015 and 2018. Chandra, however, said that the Essel group promoter entities actually owed Rs 4,200 crore to the bank and that the dispute was hurting Dish TV’s business and stakeholders.