Zee Entertainment Shares Surge 8% After Merger Talks

New Delhi, Feb 20 (PTI) Shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) settled 8 per cent higher on Tuesday after media giant Zee and Sony Pictures Networks (India) are working to salvage their USD 10 billion merger.

The scrip of the company surged 8.03 per cent to close at Rs 193 apiece on the BSE.

On the NSE, ZEEL stock jumped 6.67 per cent to end at Rs 190.40 per piece.

During the day, shares of the entertainment company zoomed 15 per cent -- hitting its upper circuit limit -- on the bourses.

In volume terms, 8.53 crore equity shares were traded on the NSE, while 60.04 lakh shares changed hands on the BSE during the day.

The 30-share BSE Sensex benchmark surged by 349.24 points or 0.48 per cent to end at 73,057.40, while Nifty of the NSE rose by 74.70 points to close at a new record level of 22,196.95.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises is seeking rapprochement with Sony Group as it makes a last ditch effort to resurrect a USD 10 billion merger, industry sources told PTI.

After the Japanese multinational had pulled the plug on their USD 10.5 billion merger deal in January, the Indian firm reached out again to Sony to reconsider the termination and offered for talks this month, a source said.

More than two years after announcing their proposed merger, Sony on January 22 said it had terminated the deal accusing ZEEL of not meeting closing conditions even after extending their closing period by a month.