The stalemate over Punit Goenka’s appointment because the CEO of the proposed Zee-Sony merged entity continues with each side unwilling to relent. Whereas Goenka has made it clear that the merger can by solely with him main the corporate, Sony is pushing Goenka to tackle a non-executive function.
Sources mentioned talks between the 2 media enterprises have hit a wall forward of the December 21 deadline for the merger to be accomplished.
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“Submit merger, Goenka may proceed to be on the board in a non-executive capability, however Sony might not be snug with day-to-day operations overseen by him. Which may be towards the spirit of the merger and the entity might proceed to operate like a bigger unit of Zee. That is one thing Sony desires to keep away from publish the merger,” mentioned a extremely positioned supply. Sony therefore desires to downplay the function of Goenka within the merged entity. “There’s a risk of Sony backing out of the merger if Goenka doesn’t take the backseat,” the supply mentioned.
Nevertheless, for Zee, Punit Goenka being on the helm of the Zee-Sony merged entity has been a cornerstone of the merger settlement. However Goenka’s current troubles with the Securities and Alternate Board of India has prompted Sony to rethink. Sony, which may also be the bulk shareholder within the merged entity, holding 50.86 per cent stake – desires to nominate an government from its camp, possible NP Singh, the present CEO of Sony Footage Networks India.
This comes at a time when one other main media consolidation is within the works, as Reliance and Disney prepared time period sheet to merge their operations in India. One other supply informed businessline, “The ball is in Sony’s court docket. Goenka has communicated that the merger ought to proceed as per the unique settlement with him on the helm of the merged agency.”
Earlier, Goenka had reassured his shareholders that the merger will go on “with or with out him,” after SEBI barred Goenka from key managerial positions in Zee Group corporations in August, whereas the regulator accomplished its investigations. Since then, the Securities Appellate Tribunal has repealed the SEBI order, permitting Goenka to proceed as CEO of Zee whereas SEBI completes its investigations. The SEBI is investigating Goenka and his father Subhash Chandra on the matter of siphoning of funds and displaying false restoration on loans.
When contacted, Zee declined to remark. Sony didn’t reply to queries despatched over electronic mail.
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