ZEEL-Invesco case: Bombay High Court bars Invesco from calling EGM

New Delhi: In a major development, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday (October 26) barred Invesco from calling an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) as requisitioned by the latter. The High Court has temporarily barred Invesco from calling EGM.

Meanwhile, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd on Tuesday said that its board meeting to consider and approve the firm's financial results for the second quarter has been cancelled due to lack of quorum.

"This is to inform that a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company, which was scheduled to be held on Wednesday, October 27, 2021, inter alia, to consider and approve the unaudited financial results of the Company both on standalone and consolidated basis for the 2nd quarter and half year ended September 30, 2021, has been cancelled due to lack of quorum. The next date of meeting will be duly informed with fresh notice," ZEEL said in a BSE filing.

"Further, the Trading Window for dealing in securities of the Company which stands closed from October 1, 2021, in pursuance of Company's Insider Trading Code, shall remain closed till 48 hours after the announcement of Un-audited financial results of the Company for the 2nd quarter and half year ended September 30, 2021," ZEEL informed in the regulatory filing.

What is the ZEEL-Invesco matter?

Invesco had tried to force ZEEL into a deal with Reliance group. Zee had refused the deal because the group's entities, which were to be merged with Zee, was given an inflated valuation by at least Rs 10,000 crore.

Invesco had called for the EGM to push for the ouster of directors Ashok Kurien and Manish Chokhani, apart from MD and CEO Punit Goenka. However, Kurien and Chokhani have already resigned from their posts, thereby, making the resolution moved by Invesco "infructuous".

Moreover, Invesco sought the appointment of six new directors - Surendra Singh Sirohi, Naina Krishna Murthy, Rohan Dhamija, Aruna Sharma, Srinivasa Rao Addepalli, and Gaurav Mehta.

A couple of days ago, ZEEL Managing Director and CEO Punit Goenka broke his silence in the ongoing Zee-Invesco tussle, charging Invesco with hiding facts that prevented it from bringing facts about a merger proposal earlier.

"...on a personal note, I have some questions as well. Why didn't Invesco make its plans public earlier? Does good corporate governance only apply to corporates and not their institutional investors?" Goenka asked in a statement.