Sony Sends Merger Termination Letter To Zee

NEW DELHI, (IANS) – Sony Group Corp. has officially notified Zee Entertainment Enterprises that it plans to call off the merger between its India unit and the media network, ending a two-year acquisition saga and leaving Zee vulnerable to competition as rivals bulk up, Bloomberg reported.

The Japanese entertainment giant sent a termination letter to Zee early on January 22 and is expected to disclose it to the exchange later.

Sony cited conditions of the merger agreement not being met as the reason for the termination, according to the letter seen by Bloomberg.

The termination follows a stalemate between the companies over whether Zee’s Chief Executive Officer Punit Goenka would lead the merged entity amid an investigation into his conduct by India’s capital markets regulator.

The standoff now appears to have scuttled the deal, which would have created a $10 billion media giant with the financial muscle to take on global powerhouses Netflix Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.