Zee Entertainment Enterprises (Zee) on Thursday said that it has sought termination fee of $90 million (Rs 750 crore) from Sony Pictures Networks India, which is now known as Culver Max Entertainment, and its entity Bangla Entertainment (BEPL) for calling off the $10-billion merger deal in January.
“Culver Max and BEPL have failed to comply with their obligations under the merger cooperation agreement (MCA). Therefore, the company has terminated the MCA and called upon Culver Max and BEPL to pay the termination fee ie the aggregate amount equal to $90,000,000, in accordance with the MCA,” Zee said in a stock exchange filing.
Sony Group had said Zee failed to satisfy merger conditions and also initiated arbitration proceedings before Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) claiming $90 million as a termination fee.
Zee had also initiated legal actions to contest the claims of $90 million filed by Sony Group before SIAC.
It had also filed a petition before the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), seeking a direction to Sony Group to implement the merger scheme. SIAC denied Sony Group’s plea seeking interim relief against Zee to restrain it from moving NCLT to enforce the failed merger of its subsidiary Culver Max with the Indian media house.
More than two years after announcing their proposed merger, Sony on January 22 had announced the termination of the deal while accusing Zee of not meeting closing conditions even after extending their closing period by a month.
Zee has maintained that it was willing to meet most of the conditions.
The Mumbai bench of NCLT on August 10, 2023, had approved the scheme of merger of Zee with Sony Group entities Culver Max Entertainment and BEPL, which could have created a $10 billion media group.
If the Sony-Zee merger was completed, the combined entity would have owned over 70 TV channels, two video streaming services — Zee5 and Sony LIV — and two film studios — Zee Studios and Sony Pictures Films India — making it the largest entertainment network in the country.