NCLT Approves Merger Of Zee Entertainment With Sony, Shares Climb 16.27%

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved the merger of Sony's Indian subsidiary with Zee Entertainment on Thursday. Earlier, on July 10, the NCLT reserved its decision on the merger of Zee Entertainment Enterprises with Sony.

After hearing objections from creditors who voiced reservations about the scheme, including Axis Finance, JC Flower Asset Reconstruction Co, IDBI Bank, Imax Corp, and IDBI Trusteeship, the Mumbai bench of the NCLT, comprised of H V Subba Rao and Madhu Sinha, reserved the judgment.

This is a critical regulatory approval for the mega-merger, which was announced in 2021 but has been delayed due to a variety of factors. The deal was postponed due to legal matters with the lenders over loan defaults by a Zed group entity, as well as reports that stock markets were reconsidering merger authorization.

Zee Entertainment and Sony Pictures agreed to merge their businesses in December 2021. Following that, both media companies approached the tribunal to seek merger approval, having already obtained approval from the NSE, BSE, and other regulatory bodies such as the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and the capital market regulator SEBI.

Meanwhile, the shares of Zee Entertainment on Thursday closed 16.27% higher at Rs 281.50 per share on BSE, touching the upper circuit at Rs 266.30 per share. It hit intraday highs and lows of Rs 290.50 and Rs 239.15, respectively.