Buzz of a potential merger between Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd and Viacom18 has been going on for quite some time. Zee Entertainment reacts on the matter and called it pure speculation. Zee Entertainment clarified that no such transaction has been undertaken.
The current market cap of Zee Entertainment company is Rs.21,304.24cr. Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. said on the matter that had taken the internet by storm. Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd commented on the news informing the masses about a potential merger of Viacom18 and Zee Entertainment.
There is no such transaction being undertaken, confirmed Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. in a regulatory filing. They added that the matter is speculative in nature. If the merger would have taken place, the promoters of Viacom18 could become among the largest shareholders of the combined entity because more than 65% of ZEE is owned by foreign institutional investors.
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd was founded by Essel Group’s Subhash Chandra. While, Viacom18 is a joint venture between TV18 Broadcast Ltd (51%) and US-based ViacomCBS Inc. (49%). Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd is majority-owned by foreign institutional investors, including Investco Oppenheimer Developing Markets Fund and Ofi Global Fund China LLC.
The news about the potential merger began to surface a few weeks back. The deal is unlikely to include any cash transactions.
