Probe diversion of Dish TV funds, say small investors

livemint.com:

₹25 crore from Dish Infra Services Pvt. Ltd to Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It is crucial to note that Dish Infra Services Pvt.

Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dish TV Ltd. Considering that minority investors in Dish TV are also affected by this misappropriation, it is the duty of independent directors such as yourselves to promptly initiate an independent investigation into this diversion and other instances of fund misappropriation within Dish TV by the promoters. We have already written to Sebi regarding this matter and have attached both the Sebi order and our letter to them," as per the letter, a copy of which was reviewed by Mint.

Dish TV’s minority investors include IndusInd Bank, which has a 2.34% stake, Aditya Birla Sun Life Flexi Cap Fund (1.59%) and Phoenix ARC (1.27%), and the investors claim that the current two-member board has lost credibility and the trust of investors. For this reason, minority investors want K. Badri Narayanan, Satish Kumar Yanmandra and Jeet Sen Gupta to be inducted as independent directors.

This latest revolt by minority investors for control of Dish TV founded by Subhash Chandra comes 22 months after the then-largest shareholder, Yes Bank Ltd, expressed its dismay over how the company was run, and demanded a board reconstitution, including appointing seven directors. Chandra had borrowed over ₹5,000 crore from Yes Bank, and his inability to service the loans made the lender invoke shares of Dish TV that were pledged with the bank. Last December, Yes Bank transferred its shares to JC Flowers Asset Reconstruction Co, making the asset reconstruction company the largest shareholder, owning 24.19%.