Report: Zee to take legal action after Sony terminates merger

Indian broadcaster Zee Entertainment said on Monday it will take legal action against Sony Group after the Japanese media company terminated a $10 billion merger of their India operations, Reuters reported on 22 January.

Earlier in the day, Sony ended the merger, which was announced two years ago, as they could not agree on some deal conditions, and has also sought $90 million in termination fees from Zee.

The termination letter from Sony also came after a 30-day grace period ended over the weekend when the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement on a deadline set in late December.

Earlier on 19 January, it was reported that Sony is set to pull the plug on the proposed $10-billion merger of its India unit with Zee Entertainment after more than two years of negotiations.

The deal unravelled as the media giants failed to agree on who would lead the combined entity, with the Japanese conglomerate disinclined to have Zee’s Punit Goenka at the helm, said two people with direct knowledge of the developments.

On 10 November, Mint was the first to report that the talks had stalled after Sony’s demand that its executive lead the merged entity instead of Goenka, and that failure to reach an agreement by 21 December could derail the merger. The two companies extended the deadline by a month but failed to iron out their differences.