Invesco, the largest shareholder in Zee Entertainment, has called for the removal of managing director Punit Goenka amid a deepening divide between the fund and the company’s founders.
Furthermore, Manish Chokhani and Ashok Kurien has resigned from the position of non-executive non-independent directors of the company with immediate effect. The company told this to bourses in a regulatory filing.
Invesco had also demanded appointment of multiple independent directors in the company, Zee said a separate filing.
Following the update, shares of Zee Entertainment soared over 24 per cent to Rs 232.15 on Tuesday, before trading at Rs 225.85 at 10.10 am. The scrip had settled at Rs 186.80 on Monday.
Other Zee Group firms like Zee Learn soared 17 per cent to Rs 15.17. BSE Sensex was trading at 183.32 points, or 0.32 per cent, higher at the same time.
Shares of Dish TV and Zee Media Corporation (ZMCL) were locked at their upper circuit limits. Dish TV soared 10 per cent to Rs 21.31, whereas ZMCL added 5 per cent to Rs 10.44.
A ZEE spokesperson told ET that the company will take “necessary action as per applicable law,” without elaborating, in response to queries.
“Corporate governance was the biggest roadblock for Zee Ltd. The recent development of EGM for removal of directors is changing sentiments for the group,” said Santosh Meena, Head of Research, Swastika Investmart.
“Zee has a big brand and network along with strong operations where the only concern was management. The stock is trading at very attractive valuations and it is one of the strongest and FII-favorite stocks in the media space,” he added.
