Sony Group says that it has officially notified Zee Entertainment Enterprises of plans to call off the merger between its India unit and the Indian media network, ending a two-year acquisition saga and leaving Zee vulnerable to competition as rivals bulk up.
The entertainment giant sent a termination letter to Zee as the conditions necessary for the merger were not met, it said on Monday.
The move follows a stalemate between the companies over whether Zee¡¯s Chief Executive Officer Punit Goenka would lead the merged entity amid an investigation into his conduct by India¡¯s capital markets regulator. The standoff now appears to have scuttled the deal, which would have created a $10 billion media giant with the financial muscle to take on global powerhouses Netflix and Amazon.
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