Zee Entertainment on Tuesday clarified the firm was not involved in any negotiations with relation to the scrapped merger deal with Sony.
On Tuesday, media reports had indicated that Zee and Sony had restarted conversations in a last-ditch effort to salvage the $10-billion merger, a month after the transaction was terminated by the Japanese major. Mails sent to Sony and Zee on the issue elicited no response till the time of going to press.
In a stock exchange filing on Tuesday evening, however, Zee clarified that it was not involved in any negotiation with Sony over reviving the merger deal. “We wish to clarify that the company is not aware of any information that has not been announced to the exchanges,” Zee said.
Shares of Zee Entertainment were up 11.87% intra-day on the BSE on Tuesday at Rs 199.85 apiece. It settled at Rs 193 apiece, up 8.03% versus the previous day’s close.
Media industry executives said that the possibility of a revival of talks had emerged as the domestic market was consolidating.
Rivals Disney Star and Reliance-backed Viacom18 are likely to announce their proposed merger shortly, after signing a non-binding agreement in December, media sources said.
The exclusivity period for the talks between Disney and Reliance concluded last week, and the broad contours of the deal have been spelt out, according to sources. Reliance and Bodhi Tree Investments, a joint venture between James Murdoch and former Disney executive Uday Shankar, will together hold 60% in the merged entity.
Reliance will hold majority stake (51%), while Bodhi Tree Investments will likely have 9% in the merged company, informed sources said. Disney will hold 40% in the merged company, valuing the firm at about $4-5 billion, which is half of the Zee-Sony combined entity.