NEW DELHI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) managing director and CEO Punit Goenka on Tuesday said that the company’s merger with Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) is in the final stages.
About 53% of the merged entity would be owned by Sony and the rest by Zee’s holders, according to the non-binding agreement signed in September.
“I certainly believe that consolidation is going to benefit the industry overall. Zee and Sony will form the largest media entertainment player in the country. Our revenues on a standalone basis will be close to $2 billion, and the capital growth ($1.575bn) that Sony is going to infuse in the merged entity will really give us the opportunity to invest in premium content, including sports,” Goenka said while delivering his keynote address at the APOS India Summit.
Goenka stressed that a key focus area of the merged entity would be sports. “We just finished non-compete on sports with Sony and it’s coming full circle,” he noted.
“I believe that the opportunity is great, because the digital landscape has opened up a new opportunity for monetization, which did not exist five years ago,” said Goenka. “And the sector itself will see a lot more happening going forward. So certainly sports will become an area of focus for the merged entity.”
“But the decision for bidding or not bidding, and bidding at what value etc., will be taken by the board of the new merged company, and not by me individually,” said Goenka.
On the company’s plans in the digital space, Goenka noted: “The digital landscape has opened up new opportunities for monetisation which was not there five years ago,” he said. Goenka noted that before the COVID-19 pandemic, no one thought 40-50 million people would pay for digital content.
“But the sector has seen rapid growth. The Indian SVOD (Subscription video on demand) market will grow to 200 million in the next five years.”
India’s largest publicly traded entertainment network has been at the centre of a complicated boardroom and courtroom feud of Goenka and his supporters versus Atlanta-based Invesco Developing Markets Fund, Zee’s biggest shareholder with an 18% stake.
Zee has challenged Invesco’s attempt to restructure the board in courts and alleged that the US investor is trying to take over the broadcaster at the behest of another company.
