Sep 14, 2021

Essel Group stocks witness frenzied buying; Zee Entertainment zooms 15%-Business Journal By Shares of Zee Entertainment were locked in the 15 per cent upper circuit at Rs 215 on the BSE in Tuesday’s session after Invesco Developing Markets Fund and OFI Global China Fund Llc, which own a combined 17.9 per cent stake in the company, called for an extra-ordinary shareholders’ meet to remove Punit Goenka (promoter group) as director along with removal of two other directors Manish Chokhani and Ashok Kurien, who resigned yesterday. They have also sought appointment of six independent directors. The stock trades in the futures & option (F&O) segment, which has no circuit limits. The stock of the broadcasting & cable TV operator has gained 29 per cent from its 52-week low of Rs 166.80 touched on August 23, 2021. Among other ZEE group stocks, Zee Learn surged 17 per cent to Rs 15.17, while Zee Media Corporation was locked at the 5 per cent upper circuit at Rs 10.44 on the BSE. “Invesco has sought removal of Punit Goenka, currently MD of the company, from the board and two independent directors. This is a step in the right direction. Invesco wants a professional board at the helm that can steer the company in the right direction. There have been issues with the leadership in the past – Punit Goenka and Subhash Chandra – that the investors and markets objected to. With a miniscule holding in the entities, Goenka’s have been calling the shots. The market has already taken this development positively,” said A K Prabhakar, head of research at IDBI Capital. In a late evening statement to the stock exchanges, Zee Entertainment said the funds sought appointment of six of its own nominees on the board of Zee. The promoters, Subhash Chandra family owns only 4 percent of the company and had to sell their stake to pay off the debt worth Rs 13,000 crore taken by the promoter entities of ZEEL after defaulting. CLICK HERE FOR FULL RELEASE Meanwhile, in a separate exchange filing, Zee Entertainment announced that two non-executive non-independent directors, Ashok Kurien and Manish Chokhani on Monday resigned from the board of the company. Ashok Kurien resigned due to his pre-occupation, while, Manish Chokhani resigned due to changed life circumstances and perspective post COVID, the company said. The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Zee Entertainment will be held today, September 14, 2021, at 4.30 pm through video conferencing/ other audio visual means. “While we await the actual outcome of the meet, with promoters group holding only around 4 per cent stake, it is likely that this resolution will go through. This move is likely to remove promoter led overhang on the stock, owing to past instances of inefficient allocation of capital, related party transaction, etc”, ICICI Securities said in a note. Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Digital Editor