Sony appeals to SIAC to bar ZEE's legal remedies in NCLT and other courts: ET report

Culver Max Entertainment and Bangla Entertainment, subsidiaries of the Sony Group, have appealed to the Singapore International Appellate Tribunal (SIAC) to prevent Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE) from pursuing legal remedies through the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) or any other courts or tribunals in India or elsewhere, an ET report states.

In its submission to SIAC, Sony has claimed that Mad Man Film, the entity that submitted the application to the Mumbai bench of NCLT on December 5, is acting as a proxy for ZEE. The entity requested directives for Sony to execute the merger agreement.

"An order injuncting the respondent (ZEE) from seeking any remedy(ies), directly or indirectly (through any proxies), before the NCLT, or any other court(s) or tribunal(s) in India or elsewhere, in connection with or arising out of the merger cooperation agreement (MCA), including in respect of or for the implementation of scheme, during the pendency of the contractual disputes amongst the parties under the MCA," Sony said in its plea to the SIAC.

The company argued that NCLT, being a statutory body, lacks the jurisdiction to settle its contractual dispute with ZEE.

On January 22, 2024, Sony submitted an application, seeking urgent interim relief under Rule 30 and Schedule I of the SIAC Rules, as outlined in Clause 9.2.1 of the merger cooperation agreement (MCA). The hearing began on January 31.

This was after Sony's Indian units officially terminated the merger agreement with ZEE, citing an alleged violation of the merger agreement. Additionally, Sony demanded ZEE to remit $90 million in termination fees for breaching the implementation of the closing conditions.

Sony, in its submission to the SIAC, highlighted that ZEE had not fulfilled numerous crucial closing conditions even after 25 months had elapsed since the agreement's signing in December 2021.