Zee Entertainment surges 6% after 53 mn shares change hands via block deal

According to reports, Invesco Developing Markets Fund, which has a 10.14 per cent stake in ZEE, was looking to sell half of its stake in the company in a block deal

Shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE) surged 6 per cent to Rs 280.05 in Tuesdays intra-day trade, after nearly 53 million shares of the company changed hands via block deals on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

About 52.93 million shares, representing 5.51 per cent stake of ZEE, worth Rs 1,396 crore changed hands on the exchange at a price of Rs 263.7 per share, data shows. The names of the buyers and sellers, however, could not be ascertained immediately.

That said, a Business Standard report suggested that Invesco Developing Markets Fund, which has a 10.14 per cent stake in ZEE, was looking to sell half of its stake in the company in a block deal on Tuesday. Invesco holds the stake ZEE through OFI Global China Fund.

"This block deal will be the second one in seven months by Invesco after it offloaded 7.8 per cent stake in April for Rs 2,092 crore. The block deal in April had come after Invesco withdrew its demand for an extra-ordinary general meeting, which it was pursuing since September 2021. It was doing this to reconstitute the board citing corporate governance issues," the report said. READ HERE

Earlier this month, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) HAD granted conditional approval to the proposed merger of ZEE with Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) India. Last week, the company got shareholders approval for the merger.

At 09:28 AM, ZEEL was trading 3.5 per cent higher at Rs 272.85, after hitting an intra-day low of Rs 271.25 on the NSE. In comparison, the Nifty 50 was up 0.96 per cent at 17,477 points.

In the past three months, the stock has outperformed the market by surging nearly 20 per cent, as against 8 per cent rise in the benchmark index. It had hit a 52-week low of Rs 200.50 on June 20, 2022.