Zee stock gains 4% on reports of attempt to revive $10-billion Sony deal

Shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises gained over 4 percent during morning trades on the NSE on February 20 on reports that Zee and Sony Pictures Networks (India) were working on another attempt to revive the mega  merger deal. At 11:30 am, the stock was trading at Rs 186.30.

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On February 20, The Economic Times reported that Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) were aiming  to revive their $10-billion merger that was called off on January 22. According to the report, meetings have taken place over the last last fortnight to "salvage the deal". Moneycontrol couldn’t independently verify the details of the report. The report further added that Zee is expected to inform Sony in the next 24-48 hours if it's willing to accept the terms and conditions.

After the deal was called out, in a post-earnings call, Hiroki Totoki, president, COO & CFO of Sony said that India, on a long-term basis, has a great growth potential. It's a very appealing market.  "We will try to seek various opportunities and if we can find another opportunity that would replace this type of plan," he is quoted as saying.

According to reports, one of the main reasons for the failure of the previous deal was the lack of consensus over who would head the merged entity after Zee MD and CEO Punit Goenka who was the agreed upon candidate came under a SEBI probe.

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