Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited popularly known as ZEEL has been trending in the news for a few days and not for a good reason. Zee as a brand is one of the oldest entertainment brand’s in India and millennials will fondly remember the brand from the days of cable television. However, ZEEL is currently in choppy waters as Punit Goenka, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer is facing a conspiracy against him to be removed from the company.
Zee and Sony have announced a merger recently in order to increase their revenues. This partnership is highly beneficial for both the brands as Sony currently rules the sporting content while Zee has a stronghold on regional content in close to ten languages. With this merger, both the brands can tap into each other’s content and also reach out to a wider audience and therefore this partnership is being highly praised.
However, the trouble began when Invesco Fund demanded to hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to remove current Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Punit Goenka and induct its six nominees. ZEEL immediately rejected the demand and conveyed its inability to convene the Extraordinary General Meeting to Invesco Developing Markets Funds and OFI Global China Fund, LLC.
When news about this development became public Bollywood and television celebrities rallied their support around Punit Goenka. Invesco is facing the brunt of the criticism over their hostile takeover attempt and to unceremoniously show Punit Goenka the door. However, it does look like Invesco will not get its way if the public support for Punit Goenka is any indication. As the days pass by, more and more people who have fond memories of Zee are rallying and have shown their distrust against Invesco.
Zee is currently an industry behemoth and has had a successful and inspiring journey with regional presence in close to 10 languages so far. They are the experts in the general entertainment channel categories as is evident from the ton of content they currently hold and stream. Zee has also transitioned from the cable television days to the digital content space very seamlessly and it is all under the able leadership of Subash Chandra, who is known to be the father of Indian cable industry. Having strong ties and being associated with Zee for more than two decades and them being one our premium and valued partners for streaming content online, we can vouch for the same. The proof of Punit Goenka’s success and the ZEE brand is there for everyone to see and therefore whatever reason Invesco has for removing him as a leader is unfounded. As the iconic saying goes “Baap, Baap Hi Hota Hai” we strongly believe this applies to his case as Punit Goenka will not be going anywhere.
