Zee appoints three new independent directors

The appointment of the three new independent directors comes after Vivek Mehra and Sasha Mirchandani didn’t get enough votes.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) has appointed three new independent directors, Venkata Ramana Murthy Pinisetti, Shishir Babubhai Desai and Uttam Prakash Agarwal with effect from December 17, 2023.

These three will take charge as additional directors in the category of independent directors of the company, the media and entertainment conglomerate said in a stock exchange filing after its Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Murthy Pinisetti is a lawyer, an author and an academic practitioner in human resources and organisation development domains. He heads the employment and labour law practice at Economic Laws Practice (ELP), Zee stated in the filing.

Meanwhile, Desai is a solicitor with 44 years of experience and enrolled with the Bombay Incorporated Law Society; and as solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales (Non-Practicing). He is also a member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India.

Agarwal is a chartered accountant with over three decades of experience in taxation, finance and restructuring, having worked in areas of statutory audit, income leakage audit, concurrent audit, and stock audit of public sector banks under RBI’s appointment.

The appointment of the three new independent directors to Zee board comes after Vivek Mehra and Sasha Mirchandani did not get enough votes.

Also Read | NCLAT refuses to stay Zee-Sony merger, case to be heard finally in January

“The board of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. unanimously applauds Sasha Mirchandani and Vivek Mehra; for their significant contribution made towards the company, during their association. As two distinguished and noteworthy names in the corporate sector, Mirchandani and Mehra are on the boards of several leading public listed companies and have inculcated strong corporate governance ethics over the years," the company said.

"The board of the company strongly appreciates the role played by them and deeply acknowledges their support and contribution made towards the growth of the company," R. Gopalan, chairman, ZEEL said.

Earlier this week, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on December 15 refused to grant a stay on the merger of Zee Entertainment and Sony. The tribunal, however, issued notice in the plea and listed the case for hearing on January 8. Axis Finance and IDBI bank had challenged the merger in the NCLAT.

Also Read | Sony faces Hobson’s choice with Zee merger

On December 15, shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) ended 0.27 percent lower at Rs 277.15 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). So far this year, the stock has rallied over 14 percent, slightly underperforming benchmark Nifty 50 which has risen 17 percent during this period.