New twist in Zee saga; Punit Goenka claims 'large Indian firm' wanted control via Invesco

The Zee saga is turning out to be a showstopper for shareholders, the script now sees the entry of behind the scene 'operator' as claimed by Punit Goenka. The MD & CEO of Zee Entertainment in a 6 page letter to the stock exchanges states that Invesco the largest shareholder of the company, which is seeking his removal from the board – had approached him in February with a proposed merger with “a large Indian group”.

“The deal was first presented to me over a call scheduled on 23 February 2021 at 6pm IST, with Mr. Aroon Balani and Mr. Bhavtosh Vajpayee," said a note written by Goenka, disclosed by Zee. According to the note, under the proposed deal, structured by Balani, who is a vice-president at Invesco, and Vajpayee, a technology analyst at Invesco, Zee was to merge with “certain entities owned by a large Indian group (Strategic Group)".

The letter, however, didn’t mention the name of the group.

However, Goenka said he rejected the deal after expressing his “apprehension” to Invesco that the merging entities of the strategic group were over-valued and it would have resulted in a loss to the Zee stakeholders

Zee in it's disclosure of this deal also points out that Invesco via the proposed merger wanted to retain Punit Goenka as the MD & CEO of the company, unlike their strict opposition to him holding that post now just 6 months down the line.

Zee pointing back at Invesco stated that “The board is constrained to conclude that Invesco's actions over the past few weeks, have been motivated by circumstances that are extraneous to the Company's business or performance, or issues of corporate governance or public interest.”

Also watch: Subash Chandra speaks out, asks who is scripting Inveso's dissent