Big decision in ZEEL's favour; Bombay High Court bars Invesco from calling EGM

It's a big decision in favour of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) with respect to the matter of Invesco trying to illegally take of ZEEL. In a major development on Tuesday, Bombay High Court temporarily barred Invesco from calling EGM.  

Earlier, hours after Reliance Industries Limited in its media statement confirmed that it had made a proposal for merger of its media properties with Zee and wanted Punit Goenka to continue as Managing Director & CEO of ZEEL, Punit Goenka released a statement saying, "Silence may be the best answer at times, but I have realised that in certain situations it is better to break it at the right time, so that truth comes to the fore."

The statement from the desk of Punit Goenka said, "I have been compelled to break my silence on the ongoing matter, and this is the reason that I am writing this note today. I have always been extremely transparent in all my communications and vide this statement, I would like to share my thoughts about the current situation. That said, I truly hope that this will be my first and last communication on this matter, so that we can focus on our value-creation journey at ZEE."

"Firstly, I would like to acknowledge that Invesco has been an extremely strong support to the Company, for the most part. It pains me to see this relationship going sour today and the unfortunate circumstances that we are all facing," said Goenka.

ZEEL-Invesco matter

Invesco had tried to force ZEEL into a deal with Reliance group. Zee had refused the deal because the group's entities, which were to be merged with Zee, was given an inflated valuation by at least Rs 10,000 crore.

Invesco had called for the EGM to push for the ouster of directors Ashok Kurien and Manish Chokhani, apart from MD and CEO Punit Goenka. However, Kurien and Chokhani have already resigned from their posts, thereby, making the resolution moved by Invesco "infructuous".

Moreover, Invesco sought the appointment of six new directors - Surendra Singh Sirohi, Naina Krishna Murthy, Rohan Dhamija, Aruna Sharma, Srinivasa Rao Addepalli, and Gaurav Mehta.