Sony Pictures Networks India mentioned on Wednesday it has agreed to accumulate Zee Entertainment, which if the deal materializes, will deliver collectively two of the most important broadcasting giants in India that run massive cable tv networks, streaming providers, music labels, and personal scores of different digital property.
The subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate group mentioned it can make investments $1.575 billion in Zee Entertainment, a 30-year-old agency that has been grappling with inner governance points.
Sony mentioned it needs to accumulate a controlling 53% stake within the publicly listed Zee Entertainment, however didn’t disclose how a lot it plans to spend on shopping for Zee, which operates over 5 dozen TV channels in English, Hindi, and lots of regional languages and has tie-ups with a number of international studios for broadcasting and streaming their library in India. Sony Pictures Networks India, equally, operates over two dozen TV channels within the South Asian market.
A merger would assist the 2 corporations regain market share within the nation, the place the tv panorama has considerably modified up to now twenty years — because of the arrival of recent gamers and dramatically quick web adoption.
Like Zee, Sony has been an essential fixture within the Indian TV trade for over 25 years. It launched Sony Entertainment Television in India in 1995 and has aired among the most memorable reveals together with ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati,’ a spin off of ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?’
The corporations additionally function on-demand streaming providers comparable to Zee5 and SonyLiv that compete with dozens of different gamers together with Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney’s Hotstar.
The two corporations mentioned on Wednesday that over the following 90 days they may conduct due diligence and finalize a definitive settlement. Analysts say that Zee will want majority approval from its shareholders for the deal to work.
In a regulatory submitting, publicly listed Zee Entertainment mentioned the proposed merged entity might be led by present Zee chief government Punit Goenka (pictured above). Several Zee shareholders have requested for the termination of Goenka and different high officers in current days.
Zee’s shares surged 35% on the information Wednesday, giving it a market worth of $4.5 billion.
“The combined company would be a publicly listed company in India and be better positioned to lead the consumer transition from traditional pay TV into the digital future,” Sony Pictures Networks India mentioned in an announcement. “The merger of ZEEL and SPNI would bring together two leading Indian media network businesses, benefitting consumers throughout India across content genres, from film to sports.”
