ZEE shares in focus after stock exchange clarification on Sony merger, Sebi report

Shares of ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd were in focus on Wednesday morning after the media firm said it was not engaging in any negotiations with the Sony group post the termination of the $10 billion merger, categorically denying the recent news items. Calling them factually incorrect, ZEE said the company was not aware of any information that has not been announced to the exchanges, which could explain the aforesaid movement in its shares that rallied 8 per cent on Tuesday.

"We are not in a position to determine the material impact of the above-mentioned article on the company," it told stock exchanges.

The stock will also be in news as a Bloomberg report suggested that Sebi has found a hole of more than $240 million in the accounts of ZEE, dealing another blow to the embattled media firm less than a month after its merger with Sony Group Corp’s local unit collapsed.

Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg said the market regulator has found that about Rs 2,000 crore ($241 million) may have been diverted from ZEE, which is about ten times more than initially estimated by Sebi investigators.

The amount, the Bloomberg report suggested, found missing is not final and may change after Sebi reviews the responses from the company executives, the people said. The regulator has been calling in senior officials at ZEE including founders, Subhash Chandra, his son Punit Goenka and some board members to explain their stance, the report suggested.