Mumbai, January 8: The Zee-Sony merger is likely to be called off soon if media reports are to be believed. According to a report in Bloomberg, Sony Group Corp. is reportedly planning to call off its India merger with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel). The development comes amid two years of drama and delays in creating the USD 10 billion media merger.

As per the report, the Japanese company is allegedly looking to cancel the deal due to a standoff involving Zee’s Chief Executive Officer Punit Goenka. The standoff has risen over whether Punit Goenka, who is founder Subhash Chandra's son, would lead the merged entity or not. Sony Agrees to Discuss Extending Dec 21 Deadline for Merger, Says ZEEL.

As per the agreement signed in 2021, Goenka was set to lead the new company. However, reports claim that Sony no longer wants Punit Goenka as CEO amid a regulatory probe. Last year in December, it was reported that Zee and Sony had a month's time to close the merger. Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) had confirmed that Sony agreed to discuss extending the date of the merger of the December 21 deadline.

The Bloomberg report also stated that Sony is planning to file a termination notice of the merger before January 20, citing a few conditions have not been met. Sources close to the developments also stated that discussions are still underway between Zee and Sony, and a resolution could emerge before the deadline. Reliance-Disney Deal: Walt Disney and Reliance Industries Sign Non-Binding Agreement to Merge Indian Media Operations, Says Report.

Representatives of Sony and Zee have officially not confirmed the developments. It must be noted that the Zee-Sony merger, which was announced nearly two years ago, has already been approved by the shareholders of ZEEL and sectoral regulators, including the Competition Commission of India.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 08, 2024 04:59 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).