Reports On Zee, Star Merger Plans Denied

The Zee Network has denied reports of plans for merger of the Zee and Star family of channels as reported in a section of the press. In a statement through a press release the Zee Telefilms (ZTL) chairman, Subhash Chandra has said, "I wish to state that there is no such agreement on any proposal nor has there been any proposal to merge Star and Zee in the manner it has been reported in the press."

Chandra has stated that there have been certain contentions in the past between Zee and News Corp (owners of Star TV) regarding the shareholders agreement which are being resolved through dialogues. The relationship between the two sides have since improved. "Zee Network will continue to function as an autonomous and distinct business, in the manner it has functioned so far in competition with Star or other channels in one area and co-operation in another, given the fact that Star also has a stake in Zee Network,", the release added. Chandra has also stated that the spurt in the stock price movement of Zee should not be attributed to the "so called merger between Zee and Star". He attributed the rise in price to the previous year's performance. It has continued to maintain its steady position since the financial results were announced.

"The fact that Zee has continued to innovate and pioneer new concepts in programming has been given short shrift. Its bottomline and price earning has also multiplied but this has been given a go by and the stock price increase has been cleverly and conveniently attributed to the so called proposal of merger of Star and Zee TV," the ZTL chairman stated. He has also said that the press has misinterpreted social meetings as meetings for merger proposals. As an NRI with diverse business interests he makes trips to other parts of the world. This, he said, is being projected as merger talks.