Zee, Sony enter into discussion on extension of deadline to complete merger

Sony Group Corp and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd have entered into a discussion to extend the deadline for merging their India operations, keeping hopes alive of creating a $10 bn media behemoth

By P R Sanjai

Sony Group Corp. and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. have entered into a discussion to extend the deadline for merging their India operations, keeping hopes alive of creating a $10 billion media behemoth. 

The Mumbai-based entertainment firm said on Wednesday it had received communication from Sony and they will enter into negotiations “in good faith” and “with a view to discuss the extension of the date required to make the scheme effective by a reasonable period of time.”

The extension gives a lease of life to the two-year-old merger proposal as the two sides sort out their differences and close a transaction that has already seen ample delays. Zee requested for an extension in a Dec. 17 filing but Sony said Tuesday that it wanted to hear Zee’s proposals on completing the “remaining critical closing conditions.”   

Negotiations between the two companies ran into a hurdle over the past few weeks as differences cropped up on who’ll lead the new merged entity, Bloomberg reported last month. Zee was insisting that its Chief Executive Officer Punit Goenka will helm it, as agreed in the 2021 pact, while Sony was wary given an ongoing regulatory probe against Goenka,