Zee is expected to inform Sony about its willingness to accept all the terms within 24-48 hours.
Bengaluru:
Zee Entertainment is making a last-ditch effort to revive discussions with Japan’s Sony Group to revive their $10 billion (roughly Rs. 83,098 crore) merger deal that was called off on January 22, The Economic Times reported. Reported on Tuesday citing people aware of the matter.
Efforts to revive the merger have stepped up in the past two weeks, with reports saying representatives from both sides are working to save the deal.
However, there is a possibility that the discussions may fail as key differences remain unresolved and both sides remain firm on their positions.
Zee and Sony did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comments.
Sony terminated the merger with Zee due to some unresolved “closing conditions” and leadership disputes, including disagreements over CEO Punit Goenka’s involvement in regulatory issues.
The newspaper said that Zee is expected to inform Sony within the next 24-48 hours about its willingness to accept all the terms and conditions and proceed with the merger.
If not, Sony is expected to withdraw its original merger application with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) by the end of this week, as was agreed when the merger was initially proposed.
The Zee-Sony merger, which was in the works for two years, would have created a television juggernaut with over 90 channels across sports, entertainment and news that would compete with the likes of Walt Disney and billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries .
Zee shares rose 5.2% in early trade on Tuesday.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
