The plea of Mad Men Film Ventures, a shareholder of Zee, seeking enforcement of the merger has been clubbed together with ZEEL's plea and will be heard on the same date
NCLT has granted two weeks to Sony to file its reply and listed the case for hearing on March 12
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Sony scrapped the merger on Jan. 22, ending a deal that could have created one of India's biggest TV broadcasters, claiming breaches of contract
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NCLT grants 3 weeks to Sony to file reply
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Tuesday accepted a petition by a Zee Entertainment shareholder seeking the merger of its Indian entity with Sony, which was called off last week despite regulatory approvals. The Mumbai-bench of NCLT issued a notice on a petition moved by Mad Men Film Ventures, a shareholder of Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL), directing Sony Pictures Network India, now known as Culver Max, to file a reply within three weeks. Mad Men Film Ventures on Tuesday filed the petition requesting both ZEEL and Sony to implement the merger as it was approved by the NCLT in August 2023. The tribunal did not agree to the arguments made by the counsel stating that the approval by NCLT was conditional and depended on various conditions, which may be fulfilled or waived off in writing. NCLT has kept the next date of hearing on this matter on March 12. Last week, the Sony Group Corp called off the merger with ZEEL following a stalemate over who will lead the merged
India's Zee denied the allegations in a letter to Sony, also reviewed by Reuters, and accused the Japanese company of "bad faith" in calling off the merger
Chandra also said that as a promoter, he was "seriously considering" filing a criminal case against Sony
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Legal experts say Zee took several steps to merge the companies which resulted in litigation costs
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While Sony's India head sought to rally the morale of his employees in a letter Wednesday, it was thin on details on how it plans to fend off rivals
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Days before Sony Group pulled the plug on the USD 10 billion deal, Zee group founder Subhash Chandra had written to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, blaming Sebi for trying to "scuttle" the merger of its flagship media firm Zee Entertainment Enterprise with the Japanese firm and subsequent investment in the merged entity. Alleging market regulator Sebi is "acting with a predetermined mind", the Zee group patriarch requested the finance minister to take the necessary steps "to safeguard the interest of the minority shareholders of ZEEL". Chandra in his letter dated January 16, seen by PTI, said ZEEL and all other people have been cooperating in the investigation related to the alleged fund diversion by promoters and expressed concern over a new notice issued by the market regulator to former directors of ZEEL. "My concern is the timing of this new notice, and the urgency of the same since it matches with the merger completion timeline of ZEE and Culver Max," he said. The notice
The company has also approached the National Company Law Tribunal seeking directions to implement the merger, Zee added
"Let's turn our attention back to the heart of our work - our current projects, our fantastic team, and the audiences who count on us," Singh said,