Shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) rose nearly 2% in opening trade on Tuesday after American investment management company Invesco sold its complete stake in the Essel Group-owned media conglomerate. Invesco Oppenheimer-owned OFI Global China Fund LLC fully exited ZEEL by selling its entire 5.11% stake in the company for ₹1,004 crore.
Invesco offloaded 4.91 crore shares at an average price of ₹204.50 per share, amounting to ₹1,004.34 crore, through open market transactions, as per BSE India's bulk deal data. The data showed that Goldman Sachs Singapore Pte ODI, Morgan Stanley Asia Singapore Pte, and Segantii India Mauritius acquired the shares. While Goldman Sachs Singapore Pte ODI bought 64.2 lakh shares, Morgan Stanley Asia Singapore Pte and Segantii India Mauritius purchased 1.58 crore and 90.19 lakh shares, respectively, in Zee at an average price of ₹204.5 per share.
Reacting to the news, Zee Entertainment shares opened 1% higher at ₹206 against the previous closing price of ₹203.80 on the BSE. In the early trade so far, the entertainment stock rose as much as 1.7% to ₹207.25, while the market capitalisation climbed to ₹19,791 crore. The stock trades 17% higher than its 52-week low of ₹176.60 touched on February 2, 2023, while it is down 28% against its 52-week high of ₹286.90 hit on October 6, 2022.
In the last one year, ZEEL shares have fallen 25%, while it shed 24% in the past six months. In the calendar year 2023, the counter lost 15%, while it witnessed range bound trade in the last one month. In the last one week, the stock dropped 3.5%.
Last month, the debt-laden ZEEL entered into a settlement agreement with IndusInd Bank, a financial creditor which filed the insolvency plea against the broadcaster, in a case pertaining to payment disputes. As part of the settlement agreement, IndusInd Bank would withdraw its objection to Zee's merger with a local unit of Japan's Sony, which got stuck due to the initiation of insolvency proceedings against the Indian media company. The case pertains to alleged default of ₹83.08 crore term loan facility issued to Siti Networks, a cable TV operator promoted by Essel Group. Zee was a party to the Debt Service Reserve Account Guarantee Agreement (DSRA Guarantee Agreement) signed with lnduslnd Bank for the term loan facility advanced to Siti Networks.
Last December, private lender IDBI Bank moved NCLT seeking initiation of insolvency proceedings against ZEEL, claiming ₹149.60 crore of default under a debt service reserve agreement entered into by the bank and the company for the financial facility availed by SITI Networks. Besides, in April last year, Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd (HDFC) also filed an insolvency application against SITI Networks Ltd for alleged default of ₹296 crore.
