Mad Men Film Ventures, a shareholder of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited, has approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) with a request to enforce the $10 billion merger between Sony Pictures Networks India and Zee.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Mumbai has given Sony Pictures Networks India a three-week extension to respond to an application filed by Mad Men Film Ventures, a Zee shareholder, seeking the execution of a $10 billion merger between Sony and Zee Entertainment Enterprises. The merger, initially announced on December 22, 2021, was recently called off by Sony Pictures (now Culver Max).
Despite opposition from creditors such as Axis Finance, JC Flower Asset Reconstruction Co, IDBI Bank, Imax Corp, and IDBI Trusteeship, Zee sought enforcement of the scheme that the tribunal had approved in August 2023. Mad Men Ventures, a Zee shareholder, has now filed an application to implement the merger scheme.
The tribunal, presided over by judicial member Lakshmi Gurung and technical member Charanjeet Singh Gulati, granted Sony three weeks to respond to Mad Men Venture’s application, scheduling the next hearing for March 12. Advocate Shyam Kapadia, representing the shareholder, stated that Sony had not filed a response despite being served with the application on December 5, 2023. Senior Advocate Darius Khambata, representing Sony, argued for the application’s dismissal, claiming it was not maintainable and that the shareholder was a proxy for ZEE.
He highlighted that the scheme was conditional, and some conditions had not been met. Senior Advocate Janak Dwarkadas, representing Zee, requested time to consider filing a reply, also informing the tribunal about Zee’s petition for the merger scheme’s implementation.
