Singapore arbitrator denies relief to Sony in Zee merger case

THE Singapore International Arbitration Centre denied an interim relief on Sony Group’s request to stop Zee Entertainment Enterprises from approaching an Indian corporate court in the scrapped US$10 billion merger of the media firms.

Sony Group and Zee Entertainment called off their planned media merger in India last month, with the Japanese company accusing the Indian firm to have failed to meet merger agreement conditions. Following the failure, Sony filed an arbitration application in Singapore, seeking a termination fee from Zee. 

The emergency arbitrator in Singapore has allowed Zee to press its case against Sony’s Indian units Culver Max Entertainment and Bangla Entertainment before the company court in India, according to an exchange filing by Zee. It is seeking implementation of the merger plan among the companies, a move Sony attempted to block via its emergency plea before the Singapore arbitrator. 

The “emergency arbitrator has no jurisdiction or authority to injunct the company from approaching the NCLT to implement the merger”, according to the filing, referring to India’s National Company Law Tribunal. It also said the matter falls within the jurisdiction of the NCLT, which Zee had approached. 

Zee’s Mumbai-listed shares have plunged 37 per cent this year amid failure of the deal and worries over its fallout. The stock saw downgrades from at least 12 brokerages in January. BLOOMBERG