The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Tuesday accepted a petition by a Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd shareholder seeking the merger of ZEE with Culver Max Entertainment Ltd (aka Sony Pictures Network India), which was called off last week despite regulatory approvals, PTI reports.
The Mumbai bench of NCLT issued a notice on a petition moved by Mad Men Film Ventures, a shareholder of ZEE, directing SPNI to file a reply within three weeks. NCLT has kept the next date of hearing on this matter on March 12.
Mad Men Film Ventures on Tuesday filed the petition requesting both ZEE and Sony to implement the merger as it was approved by the NCLT in August 2023.
The tribunal did not agree to the arguments made by Sony’s counsel stating that the approval by NCLT was conditional and depended on various conditions, which may be fulfilled or waived off in writing, the newswire further reported.
Last week, the Sony Group Corp called off the merger with ZEE following a prolonged stalemate over who will lead the merged entity, which would have created a $10 billion media enterprise in the country.
The deal, originally inked in 2021, stipulated that the merger was to be completed before December 21, 2023, including regulatory and other approvals with a grace period of one month to complete the transaction.
