Zee shares rise 4% post settlement with IndusInd Bank

Shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd jumped as much as 4.4 per cent to a nearly one-week high in Wednesday's trade after ZEEL and IndusInd Bank told the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) that they have settled a dispute over a loan default, paving the way for the media company's merger with a local unit of Sony Group.

The stock opened at ₹208.85 and touched an intraday high and low of ₹219.45 and ₹208.7, respectively, in the session so far. ZEEL shares quoted a 52-week high of ₹308.65 and a 52-week low of ₹176.6.

IndusInd Bank, on Wednesday, told the tribunal that it would also withdraw its objection to Zee Entertainment's merger with a local unit of Japan's Sony.

IndusInd started bankruptcy proceedings against Zee Entertainment late last month over a default of ₹83 crore.

Zee Entertainment challenged the move in the NCLAT, which put the insolvency proceedings on hold.

A lawyer representing Zee told NCLAT last month that the Sony deal had received all necessary approvals but would be stalled because of the initiation of corporate insolvency proceedings. The merger, which has been in the making longer than the time lines originally indicated by Zee, has been approved by Zee’s shareholders and India’s antitrust regulator.

"NCLT approval shall be the final step towards completion of the merger. Positive for the stock," Ashwin Patil, Senior Research Analyst at LKP Securities, had earlier said.

With agency inputs