The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has directed Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd to call a shareholder meeting on October 14 over the proposed merger deal with Sony Pictures Networks India Pvt Ltd, a regulatory filing said on September 7.
"The company has received an order today from the NCLT, dated August 24, 2022, directing to convene the meeting of the equity shareholders of the company through video conferencing or other audio-visual means on October 14, 2022 at 4:00 pm (IST) for the purpose of considering and, if thought fit, approving the proposed scheme," Zee informed the stock exchanges.
The NCLT order comes around a month after Zee announced that it has received the nod from BSE and NSE - the country's two leading bourses - for the proposed merger with Culver Max Entertainment Pvt Ltd, formerly known as Sony Pictures Networks India.
Zee and Sony announced their merger on September 22 last year. After a 90-day period to conduct due diligence for the process which ended on December 21, the Board of Directors of Zee approved the merger with SPNI.
The board had then said that while Sony will hold a 50.86 percent stake in the merged entity, promoters of Zee will hold 3.99 percent, and the other Zee shareholders will hold a 45.15 percent stake in the combined company.
Under the terms of the definitive agreements signed between the companies, Sony will have a cash balance of $1.5 billion to enable the combined company to drive sharper content creation across platforms, strengthen its footprint in the rapidly evolving digital ecosystem, bid for media rights in the fast-growing sports landscape and pursue other growth opportunities, Zee had said at the time of board's approval for the merger.
According to analysts, the merger is significant as the coming together of Zee and Sony will bring tremendous synergies between the two companies that will exponentially grow the business and the sector.
Experts had also pointed out that the merger will create the largest entertainment network in India with a 26 percent viewership share and that the consolidation is a big positive as the merged entity will become a serious contender to replace market leader Star and Disney in the medium to long term.
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