Zee missed deadline to pay $200 million cricket fee to Disney: Report

NEW DELHI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd has missed a deadline to pay $200 million to Walt Disney Co's India unit for TV rights of cricket matches, according to people familiar with the matter, as the firm tries to preserve cash ahead of a likely collapse of its mega merger with Sony Group Corp, reports said.

The Mumbai-based media firm didn’t pay the installment due early January citing a cash crunch, the people said, asking not to be named as the information is not public. Disney has sought explanation from Zee on why the payment was skipped, they said, adding the tranche was part of the over $1.4 billion Zee agreed to pay for the license agreement signed in August 2022, Bloomberg reported.

Defaulting on the payment to Disney unit poses fresh headaches for Zee, including possible legal wrangles, even as it deals with the fallout of a collapsing merger with the Sony Group. Zee hasn’t furnished bank guarantees for the sum that was to be paid as per the contract, according to one of the persons familiar with the issue.

Bloomberg News reported Monday that Sony was planning to send a deal termination notice to Zee, which said Tuesday that it was still working toward closing the merger.