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Synopsis

The National Company Law Tribunal has sought a response from Sony Pictures Network (Culver Max) to file its reply to the petition filed by Zee Entertainment Enterprise seeking to implement the $10 Billion Zee Sony Merger.

A division bench of Judicial Member Laxmi Gurang and Technical Member Charanjeet Singh Gulati of NCLT Mumbai asked Sony to file its reply within two weeks and kept the matter for a hearing on March 12th

The $10 Billion merger between Zee and Sony was announced on 21st December 2021. The scheme was approved by the National Company Law Tribunal in August 2023. However, Sony recently called off the merger.

The scheme was approved by the NCLT despite opposition from creditors, including IDBI Bank, Axis Finance, and IDBI Trustee.

Sony Pictures Networks India (now known as Culver Max Entertainment) issued a notice to Zee Entertainment Enterprise on January 22, 2024, terminating the merger, citing the failure to reach an agreement within the deadline set in December 2021.

Earlier, the same bench of NCLT had also issued notice to Sony in a petition filed by a shareholder, Mad Men Films Ventures, a shareholder of Zee, seeking directions to implement the merger.

Recently, on February 4th, the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) also refused interim relief to Sony.

Sony had approached the SIAC to prevent Zee from approaching NCLT seeking legal remedies.

Senior Advocate Janak Dwarkadas, today, appearing for Zee, submitted that the jurisdiction to supervise the implementation of the scheme lies with NCLT, and therefore, Zee has approached NCLT.

Senior Advocate Darius Khambata, appearing for Sony, informed the bench that they were challenging the petition on maintainability and are in the process of filing an application for the same.

Case title: Zee Enterprises Limited vs Sony Pictures Networks India (Now Known as Culver Max Entertainment)