Investors will take final call on Zee leadership: Punit Goenka
Zee Entertainment Enterprises managing director and chief executive Punit Goenka said he has not discussed his reappointment with any shareholder, even as his five-year term is set to end in December.
«So, at the end of the day, it is the shareholders who will decide whether I am the right person or not, or whether somebody else needs to lead this company,» Goenka told analysts during the company's Q4 earnings call on Friday.
Domestic institutional investors own a 35.56% stake in the company as of March 2024. Some of the top investors include ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund and HDFC Mutual Fund.
Goenka, who is part of the promoter family that holds a 4% stake, is the longest-serving CEO of Zee. In 2019, Goenka was reappointed as the MD and CEO of the entertainment giant, beginning January 2020.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India is investigating Goenka and his father, Subhash Chandra, for allegedly diverting the entertainment company's funds to promoter-owned firms.
In August 2023, the capital market regulator passed a confirmatory order against Goenka and Chandra, barring them from holding directorships or top managerial roles in Zee.
The Securities Appellate Tribunal lifted Sebi's ban order against Goenka in October last year while allowing the regulator to continue its probe against the Zee promoters.
The Sebi investigation against Goenka was a key reason for the failure of the merger deal between Zee and Sony Pictures Networks India. Sony was averse to having him as the CEO of the proposed merged
