Zee Entertainment Shareholders Approve Rs 2,000 Crore Fundraise

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. shareholders have approved plans to raise up to Rs 2,000 crore through a share sale as the struggling media company scouts for new investors after the collapse of the Sony merger deal. The board had cleared the proposal last week. Shareholders voted 98.79% in favour of the capital-raise plan.

The funds may be raised through the issuance of equity shares or other convertible or non-convertible securities, either through private placement, qualified institutional placement, preferential issue, or a combination of them.

The capital raise comes months after Japanese media giant Sony ended the $10 billion merger with Zee, citing the Punit Goenka-led company's failure to meet certain conditions, including alleged financial mismanagement and recovering dues from related parties. Consequently, Sony initiated arbitration proceedings against Zee Entertainment under the Singapore International Arbitration Centre rules.

Last month, the National Company Law Tribunal in Mumbai allowed Zee to withdraw its application for implementing its merger with Culver Max Entertainment Pvt., formerly known as Sony Pictures Networks India Pvt.

Initially, Zee filed the application seeking to enforce the merger scheme that the Tribunal approved in August 2023. The company had sought directives for Culver to adhere to the sanctioned scheme, prevent any actions that could interfere with the merger, and form a committee with representatives from both parties to monitor the process and report to the Tribunal.

Shares of the company closed 2.89% higher at Rs 160.05 apiece, as compared to a 0.18% advance in the BSE Sensex.