BENGALURU (Reuters) – India's Zee Entertainment has made a final attempt to restart talks with Japan's Sony Group to revive a $10 billion merger deal that was scrapped on January 22. India's Economic Times reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. .
Representatives from both parties are working to salvage an agreement, and efforts to revive the merger have gained momentum over the past two weeks, the report added.
However, the report said the talks could fail as important differences remain unresolved and both sides remain firm in their positions.
Gee and Sony did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
Sony called off its merger with Zee, citing certain unresolved “closing conditions” and leadership disputes, including disagreements over CEO Punit Goenka's involvement in regulatory matters.
Gee plans to notify Sony within the next 24 to 48 hours of his intention to accept all terms and proceed with the merger, the paper said.
If not, Sony is expected to withdraw its original merger application with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) by the end of this week, as agreed at the time of the original merger proposal.
If the Gee-Sony merger goes ahead over the next two years, it will create a TV giant in India with more than 90 sports, entertainment and news channels, and will be joined by Walt Disney and billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries, among others. will be competing with.
Gee's stock rose 5.2% in early trading Tuesday.
(Reporting by Navamya Ganesh Acharya in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun HK)
