Sony Group Corp sent a termination letter to Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd(ZEEL),citing its plans to take down the merger between its India unit and the media network, Earlier this Monday.
It seemed that Sony is going to shake the hands by signing the deal with the proposed $10-billion merger of its India unit with Zee Entertainment after more than two years of negotiations upto the date of 19th January.
But the deal was called off as both the media giants failed to agree on who would be leading 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.
Even after a 30-day of grace period given by Sony which ended over the weekend,both the sides couldn’t reach to an agreement on a deadline set in late December.
“The Merger did not close by the End Date as, among other things, the closing conditions to the Merger were not satisfied by then. Sony Pictures Networks India Private Ltd (SPNI) has been engaged in discussions in good faith to extend the End Date but the Discussion Period has expired without an agreement upon an extension of the End Date. As a result, on January 22, 2024, SPNI issued a notice to ZEEL terminating the definitive agreements.”,said Sony in a statement.
“Such discussions were required to be held for a period ending thirty days after the End Date (the “Discussion Period”). The definitive agreements further provided that if the parties are unable to agree upon such an extension by the end of the Discussion Period, any party could terminate the definitive agreements by providing written notice.”,Sony said.
It is surprising that even after two years of multiple meetings for the merger,both the sides have taken down the merger.
Main reason for the disagreement is said to be that Sony didn’t want Punit Goenka(CEO of ZEEL)to be the CEO of merged company as he is under investigation for alleged diversion of funds.
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