NEW DELHI: Amid demand for the ouster of Managing Director Punit Goenka by two major institutional investors, Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) on Monday said it will take “necessary action as per applicable law”. According to PTI, a company spokesperson said this without elaborating further.
Two investment firms -- Invesco Developing Markets Fund and OFI Global China Fund LLC, which together hold 17.88% stake in ZEEL -- had earlier this month sought an extraordinary general meeting to remove Goenka and two independent directors Manish Chokhani and Ashok Kurien. Chokhani and Kurien had subsequently resigned from the board.
Beside, the investment firms had also sought the appointment of six of their own nominees on the board of the company - Surendra Singh Sirohi, Naina Krishna Murthy, Rohan Dhamija, Aruna Sharma, Srinivasa Rao Addepalli and Gaurav Mehta.
In a letter dated on 23 September to ZEEL board, Invesco again sought its EGM call, citing a Zee disclosure to stock exchanges about a non-binding term sheet that was signed with Sony Corp.
Invesco in the letter said, “Decisions of material strategic import must follow and not precede actions towards establishment of a proper and independent governance structure as determined by the company’s shareholders.” It added that the merger announcement with Sony “is symptomatic of the erratic manner in which important and serious decisions have been handled” by the company.