We’ll lift Zee stake to 26%; no plan to raise external funds: Subhash Chandra

livemint.com:

MUMBAI : Five years since Zee Entertainment persuaded lenders not to classify its debt as default, the media giant is facing pressure to oust its promoter family, after an aborted merger with Sony Pictures in India. In an interview, founder Subhash Chandra said his son Punit Goenka, who heads Zee, is the right person to lead it in the future as well, as he aims to raise the family’s stake in Zee from 4% to 26%. Edited excerpts: As you know, the 25th of January was the fifth anniversary of our failure in the capital market, when Zee’s shares fell almost 40%.

That time, I had 38 lenders sitting in my board room. I was accompanied by Punit and Amit on my side and I asked the lenders to have patience. I promised that I would repay all of them.

They agreed, which was a first in India’s financial history, where lenders gave the borrower a year to pay back, after I failed to pay them back in time. Not everyone succeeds in all the businesses they do, but we still repaid almost 92% of the lenders. Five years down the line, I am asking the shareholders to have patience.

Punit is the right person to run the company and there is no problem with Zee. It is a profitable, zero-debt company. As a founder and promoter, Zee still remains my child and I want it to progress, flourish and remain in good hands.

So, when this proposal of a merger with Sony came in September 2021, it took me two to three days to say yes. Knowing that Sony is a Japanese company also gave me comfort that Zee can continue to run as an Indian company, performing the role of the soft power for India. It was only in the first week of December last year that I was told of some problems brewing that may result in the merger not happening.