Shares of Zee Entertainment zoomed as much as 39.14% to Rs 260 apiece on Tuesday. This happened after top investors of the company sought the removal of its chief executive officer Punit Goenka and two others– Manish Chokhani and Ashok Kurien– as directors of the firm.
Manish Chokhani and Ashok Kurien have resigned from the position of non-executive non-independent directors of the company with immediate effect. They have submitted their resignations before the extraordinary general meeting (EGM). The company told this to bourses in a regulatory filing.
This EGM was initiated by the company’s largest shareholders, Invesco Developing Markets Fund and OFI Global China Fund LLC, which together hold 17.88% of the total paid-up share capital of the company. The company said in a regulatory filing on September 13 that the two funds had sent a letter asking for the EGM on September 11.
In addition, investment firms, which own a combined 17.9 per cent stake in the company, have also sought the appointment of six independent directors.
The investment firms have sought the appointment of Surendra Singh Sirohi, Naina Krishna Murthy, Rohan Dhamija, Aruna Sharma, Srinivasa Rao Addepalli, and Gaurav Mehta.
The promoters, Subhash Chandra family owns only 4 per cent of the company and had to sell their stake to pay off the debt worth Rs 13,000 crore taken by the promoter entities of ZEEL after defaulting.
The investment firms have also enclosed the relevant declarations and information required from each of the proposed Independent Directors, which is required while seeking approval from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) while making changes.
The shareholders said, “We understand that the Company is required to seek approval from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (“MIB”) in connection with the appointment of the Proposed Independent Directors. Accordingly, we request that the Company submit an application with the MIS seeking approval for the appointment of the Proposed Independent Directors at the earliest.”
