Zee Entertainment nears final stage of merger with Sony: PTI Report

Zee Entertainment Enterprises and Sony Pictures Networks India (also known as Culver Max Entertainment) are working towards the successful closure of the proposed merger. The company disagrees with a report suggesting a potential merger collapse over the selection of CEO and calls it ‘factually incorrect’, as reported by PTI.

After two years of announcing the deal, the CEO of the merged identity is still not finalised. In December 2022, an agreement sealed the merger, appointing Zee's CEO Punit Goenka as the managing director and CEO of the unified company.

The majority of the merged entity's board will be nominated by the Sony Group including NP Singh, the existing SPNI managing director and CEO. However, the merger's leadership is not clear as SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) took action against Goenka, alleging fund misappropriation from Zee. 

Despite this, the company is nearing to successfully complete the merger with Sony. It is in compliance with the composite scheme of arrangement approved by the NCLT, Mumbai Bench in August, 2023. It is also approved by the shareholders of ZEEL and sectoral regulators, including the Competition Commission of India.

Zee-Sony merger will own 70 TV channels, two video streaming services (ZEE5 and Sony LIV) and two film studios (Zee Studios and Sony Pictures Films) in India.