Shares Of Zee Entertainment Slide 32 Per Cent; Mcap Drops Rs 7,300 Crore

During intra-day trading, the shares of ZEEL also touched its 52-week low of Rs 152.50 apiece on both BSE and NSE

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd's (ZEEL) shares slumped about 32 per cent on Tuesday after Sony called off the proposed $10-billion merger of its India unit with the media group on Monday. The market capitalisation (Mcap) of ZEE, which saw heavy selling pressure since morning, tumbled by Rs 7,285.53 crore to Rs 14,974.50 crore on the BSE. ZEE's stock declined 32.73 per cent to close at Rs 155.90 apiece on the BSE. On the NSE, the company's shares tanked 30.47 per cent to settle at Rs 160.90 apeice.

During intra-day trading, the shares of ZEEL also touched its 52-week low of Rs 152.50 apiece on both BSE and NSE. The stock also touched its lower price band on both the bourses, which also revised the lower circuit limit for the company on Tuesday. In volume terms, nearly 1.46 crore equity shares were traded on the BSE while 22.84 crore shares were traded on the NSE, during the day.

The equity market also witnessed heavy volatility during the day as the benchmark index Sensex after gaining more than 500 points in early trade, crashed over 1,000 points in the late session to close in the negative territory.

The S&P BSE Sensex plunged 1,053 points to close at 70,371. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 settled below the 21,250-mark to end at 21,239, down 333 points.

On Monday, Culver Max Entertainment, formerly known as Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), terminated merger agreements with Zee Entertainment, which could have otherwise created a $10-billion media enterprise in the country. Besides, Sony has sought $90 million as break-up fees for violating the terms of the merger pact and "invoking arbitration", which ZEEL said it will contest legally. 

ZEEL spent Rs 366.59 crore on compliances till September 2023 for its now-failed merger with Sony, which called off the deal on Monday. The company had spent Rs 176.20 crore in the financial year that ended in March 2023. Besides, it spent Rs 190.39 crore in the first six months of the current fiscal, according to a regulatory filing by the Subhash Chandra family-promoted media entity.