Sony, Zee merger gets 99.99% shareholder approval
October 17, 2022
By Chris Forrester
Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) has received almost 100 per cent shareholder approval for its proposed merger with Sony Pictures Networks India. The special shareholder meeting had been held under directions of India’s National Company Law Tribunal.
A ZEEL statement later confirmed that the Sony proposal had achieved 99.99 per cent approval, and that the plan would now move forward to its next stage, which will see attention shift back to the Competition Commission of India (CCI), which had granted conditional approval to the proposed merger of the two companies. A detailed order from the CCI is expected in the next few weeks.
The two broadcasters, with their Zee TV and Sony Entertainment Television flagship channels, have a combined viewership share of 36 per cent in terms of Hindi-language general entertainment. The CCI is expected to require the disposal of some minor channels from the pair.
Under the proposed agreement between the two giants Sony will control 50.86 per cent of the ‘NewCo’ with Zee’s promotors (the Chandra family) 3.99 per cent and Zee sharholders 45.15 per cent.