'This is a first-of-its-kind partnership in the Indian media & entertainment landscape, and this association with Disney Star reflects our sharp, strategic vision for the sports business India.'
Leading media firms Zee Entertainment and Sony Pictures on Wednesday said they have received in-principle approval for a merger that will combine both companies' linear networks, digital assets, production operations and programme libraries.
The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Wednesday directed Zee Entertainment to convene a shareholders' meet on October 14 for approving the merger with Culver Max Entertainment (formerly Sony Pictures Network). The order, passed on August 24, but uploaded to the bourses on Wednesday, comes close on the heels of the Competition Commission of India (CCI)'s observation that the $10-billion merger could hurt competition and that greater scrutiny of the deal was needed. "This Tribunal hereby directs that a meeting of the equity shareholders of the applicant company (Zee) be convened and held on Friday, October 14, 2022 at 4 p.m. for the purpose of considering, and if thought fit, approving the proposed scheme," the NCLT order read.
Why are DIIs holding such a high stake in Zee, which is beset with alleged governance issues? Perhaps they think Zee is a deep-value stock, observes Debashis Basu.
In an open letter to Zee's shareholders, Invesco, which holds a 7.74 per cent stake in the firm, reiterated its demand for an overhaul of the media group's board and that it would pursue extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to oust chief executive Punit Goenka and two other directors. Last month, Sony Group Corp's India unit signed a non-binding offer to buy Zee.
As the feud continues between Zee and Invesco, appellate body NCLAT on Thursday directed the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to give reasonable opportunity to the media major to reply to Invesco's plea for holding a meeting of shareholders, and also remarked that the tribunal made an "error" by not providing sufficient response time. With the order capping a day of fast legal developments at the NCLAT as well as the NCLT within a span of a little over an hour, the spat between Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) and minority shareholder Invesco will now come up for hearing before the NCLT on Friday. Invesco is seeking the ouster of ZEEL MD and CEO Punit Goenka and appointment of six new directors on its board.
At least five people have been arrested by the city police which busted the scam earlier this month.
Zee Entertainment last week witnessed shareholder activism that saw an open call for the ouster of promoters and the incumbent management led by Punit Goenka. Besides, Dish TV also faced a similar call earlier this month. The trouble at Zee Entertainment can be gauged from the fact that this is a unique company wherein the promoters own just 3.99 per cent, but fully control the firm.
Assume Voot, JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar are merged into one entertainment app, and you have a streaming service with more than 233 million unique visitors. That is a reach just under half of India's largest streaming app: YouTube. 'This level of consolidation does not exist even in the US.'
Chandra, who will turn 69 years old on Saturday, becomes non-executive director with immediate effect.
Indian companies realise several business opportunities ahead of International Yoga Day on Sunday
Zee is estimated to have paid around Rs 225 crore for the complete rights of Radhe. The total revenue that it may earn could be around Rs 135 crore, implying a shortfall of Rs 90 crore.
Guess who else features on the Variety500 list?
In the second major change in a year, Trai had capped individual channel subscription at Rs 12 per month, down from the earlier Rs 19, and capped channel bundle discount to 33 per cent, among other moves.
Zee5 is now the fifth largest streaming app after YouTube, Hotstar, MX Player and Voot, and there is talk of hiving off Zee5 to drive valuation, says Vanita Kohli-Khandekar.
Zee and Star, the two largest media companies in India, are undergoing some radical ownership changes. What could it mean? Vanita Kohli Khandekar attempts an answer.
Sairat is the first Marathi film to cross Rs 100 crore.
'We should become an all-encompassing entertainment and information destination," says chairman Subhash Chandra, who monitors the group on a monthly basis, leaving the day-to-day operations to the chief executive officers.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday unveiled a Rs 39.45 lakh crore Budget with a view to fire up the key engines of the economy to sustain a world-beating recovery from the pandemic. This was Sitharaman's fourth Budget. While the taxpayers were left in the lurch, once again, was she able to cheer Corporate India?
The lack of bandwidth and content means it will be a long time before online streaming services take off in India.
Debt funds have exposure of nearly Rs 8,000 crore to Zee group papers. Aditya Birla MF, HDFC MF, Franklin Templeton MF, and ICICI Prudential MF have the highest exposure, reports Samie Modak.
Zee Group is India's second-largest media and entertainment firm.
Balwa, who is accused along with 16 others in the case, claimed that he cannot be prosecuted for pushing back Tata in the race as the firm was never in the race to get the 2G spectrum licence
'It would be too sweeping to say that the elites and the middle-class don't care about liberty.' 'It is just that they are always calculating the trade-offs: What's in it for me, what could it cost me?' 'To that extent, we haven't changed in 40 years,' says Shekhar Gupta.
For some, he is a visionary who grew his one-channel firm into a media giant by the sheer dint of his courage; for others, he is a compulsive risk-taker.
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