IIaS recommendation to reject board nominees misleading: Zee

livemint.com:

MUMBAI : Zee Entertainment Enterprises has rejected the recommendations of proxy advisory firm IiAS, after the latter asked investors to vote against ratifying the appointment of two of the company’s three newly-inducted independent directors. IiAS had recommended investors to vote against the appointment of Venkata Ramana Murthy Pinisetti and Uttam Prakash Agarwal, citing alleged conflict of interest and ongoing criminal charges, respectively. However, a Zee spokesperson told Mint that IiAS’ recommendation was misleading and incorrect.

Zee had appointed Agarwal, Murthy and Shishir Babubhai Desai to its board as independent directors in December. The company last month sought shareholder vote on three special resolutions ratifying the appointments. The voting closes on 15 March.

This is the first time that the company has put forth a proposal to its shareholders since its failed merger with Sony. The voting on these resolutions will be a litmus test of shareholder sentiment regarding the Subhash Chandra family-led company. Shareholders are already upset, with the company’s stocks losing more than half their value since the highs reached following the announcement of the company’s proposed merger with Sony in December 2021.

The benchmark Sensex has gained over 26% during the same period. The views of proxy advisers assume importance in the case of Zee, as 96% of the company’s stock is held by the public. Of this, nearly 72% is held by domestic and foreign institutional investors like mutual funds and insurance companies.