Zee shareholders reject proposal to allow promoters to increase their stake | Company Business News-OxBig News Network

Mumbai: Shareholders of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd on Thursday rejected a proposal that would have allowed the media company’s promoters to increase their stake over four-fold from 3.99% they currently hold. 

As many as 60% of the votes cast at the annual general meeting were in favour of the proposal to issue warrants to two promoter entities of the company, falling short of the 75% required to pass muster. Upon conversion, the warrants would have helped increase the promoters led by Subhash Chandra to increase their shareholding to 18.39%. 

This comes just two days after shareholders ratified two director appointments at the firm after a spate of rejections over the past three years. 

“The Board and the management of the Company have noted that ~ 60% of the shareholders who participated in the voting process, have expressed their support towards the resolution pertaining to the issuance of fully convertible warrants to promoter group entities, and are grateful for their support,” a spokesperson for the company said late on Thursday evening. 

The company respects the decision taken by the remaining shareholders, the spokesperson added. 

Shares close higher

Zee shares closed 0.14% higher on the BSE on Thursday at ₹141.9 apiece. The benchmark Sensex ended the session 0.41% lower. 

Earlier, Norges Bank, which controls 3.86% share of Zee and is its largest foreign investor, gave its assent to the transaction. So did California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS). Calvert Research and Management, part of Morgan Stanley Research, and the City of New York Group Trust, had rejected the resolution to increase the promoters’ stake.

Proxy advisory firms Institutional Investor Advisory Services (IiAS) and InGovern had urged shareholders to reject the proposed transaction. Stakeholder Empowerment Services (SES), which earlier had the same opinion as its peers, had changed its view in favour of the transaction just a week before the shareholder vote. California-based proxy advisor Glass Lewis had given it a thumbs up.