Zee, Sony merger in “final stages”
November 24, 2021
By Chris Forrester
Punit Goenka, MD of Zee Entertainment, giving a keynote speech at Media Partners Asia’s APOS India event, told delegates that the merger with Sony Pictures Networks India was in its final stages of agreement.
“I certainly believe that consolidation is going to benefit the industry overall. Zee and Sony will form the largest media entertainment player in the country. Our revenues on a standalone basis combined will be close to $2 billion, and the capital growth that Sony is going to infuse in the merged entity will really give us the opportunity to invest in premium content and include sports,” stated Goenka.
He added that the combined business would be in a position to create major entertainment properties and to acquire IP across all genres of the business.
That growth could also include Sport. Zee sold off its then Ten Sport division to Sony back in 2017. Bringing Ten Sport back into a merged business could mean more cash on the table to build for key sporting events, not least cricket.
“And the sector itself will see a lot more happening going forward. So certainly sports will become an area of focus for the merged entity,” Goenka told delegates.
He also touched on the progress for ZEE5, its international OTT service, saying that it was enjoying growth quarter on quarter.
Other posts by :
- Project Kuiper beating OneWeb
- OQ Tech gets Luxembourg 5G-by-Sat concession
- Roskosmos: Heads roll, launch project scrapped
- MDA under pressure over satellite order
- SES backs C-band action from FCC
- Congested orbits mean high risks of debris
- SpaceX bids fairwell to booster 1076
- Bank: LBG Media results “in line”