Zee Entertainment spent Rs 432 crore on its doomed merger with Sony Group Corporation’s Culver Max Entertainment between 2022-23 and 2023-24, according to a news report citing Zee’s regulatory filing. 

The report stated that in 2022-23, Zee incurred Rs 176 crore in merger-related costs and in 2023-24, it shelled out Rs 256 crore. 

The merger with Sony was announced in September 2021 and was set to create a Rs 14,851-crore firm. In December 2021, Sony and ZEEL signed definitive agreements to merge ZEEL with Sony and combine their linear networks, digital assets, production operations and program libraries. The agreements followed the conclusion of an exclusive negotiation period during which ZEEL and Sony conducted mutual due diligence.  

The merged entity would have been India’s fourth-largest media company after Google, Meta and Disney-Star. However, in January 2022 over 'non-compliance with terms of agreement,’ according to Sony. 

As part of meeting the merger terms, Zee closed certain businesses in 2022-23, including Margo Networks, incurring Rs 331 crore in impairment charges. The company reportedly said that the impact on its consolidated results was Rs 98 crore in 2022-23, as the losses incurred by the business closure were posted in the previous financial results. Additionally, Zee reportedly noted that the liability to fund the closure is estimated at Rs 32 crore in 2023-24.