In a major relief to Zee’s Subhash Chandra ahead of the crucial NCLT order on Zee-Sony merger, the Bombay High Court rejected the plea by Axis Finance on Tuesday. The suit sought to recover Rs 146 crore from Subhash Chandra. The order, a copy of which was accessed by FE Online, is a setback to Axis Finance. Apart from ZEEL, the commercial summary case, also sought to implead Culver Max Entertainment (Sony) and Essel Mauritius.
Meanwhile, all eyes are on the much-anticipated NCLT order on Zee-Sony merger, which is likely to be announced today. On July 10 last month, the National Company Law Tribunal had reserved its judgment regarding the keenly watched merger between Culver Max Entertainment and Zee Entertainment. Culver Max is the new name of Sony Pictures Networks India.
Creditors including JC Flower Asset Reconstruction Co, IDBI Trusteeship, IDBI Bank, Axis Finance and Imax Corp had raised some concerns over the said merger. Last month, the two-member NCLT bench of Madhu Sinha and HV Subba Rao, had listened to these concerns but reserved the verdict.
The Sony-Zee merger, which took place in 2021, has already received mandatory approvals from clutch of industry bodies such as SEBI, NSE, BSE and Competition Commission of India. Both media giants are now seeking NCLT’s green signal to go ahead with the merger.