Zee Entertainment Enterprises said on Wednesday it has received a communication from Sony that it will enter into good faith negotiations with them for  the extension of the date required to make the merger effective by a reasonable period of time.

Zee’s statement read, “The Company(Zee) is now in receipt of a communication from CMEPL and BEPL that they will enter into good faith negotiations as required under the Merger Cooperation Agreement (MCA) entered amongst the Parties, the Company, CMEPL (Culver Max Entertainment Private Limited) and BEPL(Bangla Entertainment Private Limited) , with a view to discuss the extension of the date required to make the Scheme effective by a reasonable period of time.”

CMEPL and BEPL are Sony’s India subsidiaries. 

This update comes on the eve of the December 21 deadline, by when both Sony and Zee had to merge. As both parties are in a stalemate, differing on whether or not Punit Goenka will head the merged entity, Zee had sought an extension of the deadline from Sony, after the talks between both firms broke down when Sony remained adamant in not having Goenka in any executive position in the merged firm. 

After Zee’s extension, Sony released a statement saying that they will only enter negotiations with Zee to discuss an extension date if Zee provided proposals and plans on how they are going to fulfill critical closing conditions.

businessline had sent both companies queries on the specifics of Zee’s proposal to Sony, to restart negotiations, however Zee did not respond at the time of filing the report. 

Sony said in a statement to businessline, “As noted in our statement yesterday, we are required to meet with Zee to discuss the possibility of extending the deadline per our agreement, and we look forward to hearing their proposals. “

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