Zee Entertainment tanks 8% as Chandra asked not to sell unpledged shares

Shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE) slipped 8 per cent to Rs 307 on the BSE on Thursday after promoter Subhash Chandra was asked by a court to not sell his unpledged stake in the company till next month. The stock hit one month low and was trading close to its 52-week low of Rs 289 touched on January 25 this year.

Thus far in the month of September, ZEE has underperformed the market by falling 16 per cent after the company said its promoters have disposed off their stake in open market as well as through off market. The lenders had also invoked pledge shares lying with them, according to disclosure made by the company to stock exchanges. CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 3 per cent so far in the current month.

According to a report by The Economic Times, a Delhi High Court-appointed arbitrator has asked Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra not to sell his unpledged stake in ZEE till next month in an ongoing dispute with Indiabulls Housing Finance over default in repayment of loans worth Rs 200 crore. The order, passed by Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed (Retd) on August 28, restrains Chandra from selling, directly or indirectly, shares of ZEE till October 16, the date of the next hearing.

The Essel Group, which owns ZEE, had reached an agreement in January under which the lenders agreed not to sell the Zee Entertainment shares pledged with them till September 30 and gave Essel time to find a buyer for a portion of Chandra’s stake.

Meanwhile, shares of Indiabulls Housing Finance hit a 52-week low of Rs 403, down 5 per cent from its intra-day high of Rs 422 on the BSE. The stock has fallen below its previous low of Rs 406 touched on September 6, 2019 in intra-day trade.