Zee Group shares tumble, Zee Entertainment sinks 31%, Dish TV tanks 37%

News reports said that the company was in talks with firms including Sony Pictures to sell half of their holding in the entity.

Shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises ended 31 per cent lower at Rs 299.70 apiece on Friday
after a media report said that its controlling shareholder Essel Group’s name had emerged in a probe linked to large deposits made after demonetisation.

This apart, news reports also said that the company was in talks with three firms including Sony Pictures to sell half of their holding in the entity. It is learned that ZEE promoter Subhash Chandra, who is also chairman of the company, had discussions on the proposed stake sale in the UK and the US. “Chandra has had extensive meetings and discussions to sell half of his holding in ZEE. There are three final players in the ring,” reported The Economic Times citing sources.

Following these reports, group companies Dish TV and Zee Media also took a beating in the trade. Shares of Dish TV ended 37 per cent lower at Rs 21 apiece on NSE while those of Zee Media lost 11 per cent to close at Rs 21.45. 

A Business Standard report dated January 23 reported the media company was planning to ramp up presence in the over-the-top (OTT) service in the global arena in FY20. Present in multiple countries (except the USA), the platform had a soft launch back in October 2018, opening the platform to global audiences. The initial focus for the company is to strengthen the pre­sence of ZEE5 in Pakistan and Bangladesh, before taking it to other markets. READ MORE