Sony, India’s Zee Settle Dispute Over Failed $10 Billion Merger

Photo: Reuters/Dado Ruvic

BENGALURU, (REUTERS) – India’s Zee Entertainment Enterprises and Sony’s unit in the country have agreed to withdraw all claims against each other related to their failed $10 billion merger, Zee said on August 27.

The two companies scrapped the merger in January, in part because Zee failed to meet some financial terms of the deal.

Zee applied with the India company tribunal to force the deal through but withdrew that to “aggressively pursue” all its claims against Sony in arbitration proceedings at the Singapore International Arbitration Center (SIAC).

The two companies will now withdraw all claims made at the SIAC and at India’s national company tribunal, Zee said in a statement.

The company said that neither party will have any continuing obligations or liabilities to one another as part of the non-cash settlement.

Zee’s shares surged 13% on August 27 but are down about 35% since the merger was terminated in January.

“This is a much-needed respite for Zee,” Elara analyst Karan Taurani said.

The overhang of litigation over the company is now gone, said Shriram Subramanian, founder of In Govern Research Services, a proxy advisory firm in India.

With the settlement, Zee’s management is now free to pursue their growth goals, Subramanian said.