SEBI ban clouds Zee promoter’s stake hike plan
Zee Entertainment finds itself in a legal bind after securing shareholder approval for its Rs 3,143.5-crore promoter fund raise and employee stock option plan on Friday, only hours later for the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to bar the company from the securities market for two months and its promoters, Subhash Chandra and Punit Goenka, for one year.
The regulator also imposed penalties totalling Rs 1.48 crore over the unauthorised pledge of Zee’s land in Hyderabad to secure loans taken by promoter-linked Essel Group entities.The shareholder-approved preferential issue of convertible warrants was intended to infuse fresh capital into Zee while enabling the promoters to raise their stake in the broadcaster.
