NCLAT stays Zee Entertainment’s bankruptcy: What we know so far

admitting a petition filed by Puneet GoenkaTo the chief executive of ZEEL, the Appellate Tribunal issued notice directing IndusInd Bank and the interim resolution professional to file a reply in two weeks.

here’s what happened so far

– The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Wednesday accepted a plea filed by IndusInd Bank Ltd to initiate insolvency proceedings against ZEEL.

A division bench of Judicial Member HV Subba Rao and Technical Member Madhu Sinha also appointed Sanjeev Kumar Jalan as resolution professional in the matter.

– Case related to default 89 crore claimed by IndusInd Bank by Siti Networks, the multisystem operator arm of Zee Group, for which ZEEL was a guarantor.

IndusInd Bank has also filed a separate insolvency petition against Citi Networks in NCLT. NCLT has appointed Mohit Mehra as resolution professional in the matter.

The NCLT has accepted the petition at a time when ZEEL is in advanced stages of merger with Sony in one of the biggest deals in the media and entertainment sector.

It is likely that the proposed merger between Zee and Sony will be delayed due to the latest legal developments.

While experts are of the view that the development is bound to create hurdles in the deal, some are of the view that the powers of the company board come to an end with the admission of the insolvency petition.

On Thursday, ZEEL boss Goenka challenged the insolvency proceedings initiated against the company.

Goenka has filed an appeal with the quasi-judicial NCLAT, and is still hopeful of timely completion of the merger with the local unit of Sony Group Corp of Japan, the statement said.

– “Punit Goenka is taking all necessary steps to safeguard the interests of all stakeholders of Zee so that the proposed merger (with Sony) is completed in a timely manner,” the statement said, adding that the company is “debt-free and financially sound”. stronger than.” company.”

On Friday, the NCLAT stayed the insolvency proceedings against Zee, saying the matter required detailed deliberations and posted the matter for further hearing on March 27.

NCLAT said that there is a need for detailed hearing on the arguments of both the parties.

During the hearing, Zee’s counsel Mukul Rohatgi warned that its merger with Sony would “get stuck” if the bankruptcy proceedings continued.

“Our focus is on timely completion of the proposed merger,” Goenka said after the verdict.

stock effect

On Friday, ZEEL shares pared most of their early losses and closed nearly 2 per cent lower.

The stock closed down 1.58 percent 195.60 per share on BSE. During the day, it fell 4.60 percent 189.60.

on the NSE, it settled on 195.45 each, down 1.61 percent after falling 5.36 percent. 188 during the day.

In volume terms, 10.91 lakh shares of the firm were traded on BSE and over 3.73 crore shares were traded on NSE during the day.

with agency inputs