Zee-Sony scrapped merger: Emergency arbitration in Singapore on January 31

The NCLT on Tuesday agreed to hear Zee shareholder Mad Men Film’s plea on the merger with Sony's India arm. The shareholder has sought implementation of merger as it was cleared by NCLT. The development comes minutes after CNBC-TV18 reported of an emergency arbitration in the now scrapped $10 billion merger happening in Singapore on January 31.

The Singapore International Arbitration Center is the first Asian arbitration institution to offer this process and has received over 130 applications since 2010 for the appointment of an Emergency Arbitrator. The CNBC-TV18 report said an emergency arbitrator will be appointed in a day if the application for emergency interim relief is accepted.
 
Sony has reportedly initiated arbitration proceedings for an alleged breach of terms by Zee. Zee has decided to contest Culver Max and BEPL's claims at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre.

Zee Entertainment has called Sony's demand for $90 million in termination fees legally untenable and has also denied the breach of the merger agreement in response to Sony. A Reuters report indicated that Sony had scrapped the proposed $10 billion merger with Zee after the latter failed to meet certain financial terms of the deal and come up with a plan to address them.

Zee has denied the allegations in a letter to Sony, also reviewed by Reuters, and accused the Japanese company of "bad faith" in calling off the merger.