Zee Entertainment refutes Star India's claim over lapse of cricket broadcasting deal

By Reuters

  • 18 Sep 2024
Credit: Reuters

India's Zee Entertainment on Wednesday refuted Disney-owned Star India's claim of damages worth $940 million for the termination of a cricket broadcasting agreement.

Star India is seeking the damages in the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA).

"The arbitration is at its initial stage and the LCIA Arbitral Tribunal is yet to determine if the company is liable in any manner," Zee said in a statement.

In January, Zee quit the $1.4 billion deal with Star India, under which the latter was to license television broadcasting rights for the International Cricket Council's events to Zee for four years.

Zee believes that Star India breached the agreement and had sought the repayment of 685.4 million rupees (about $8 million), according to its December-quarter earnings report.

Shares of Zee fell as much as 1.6% in Mumbai.

"I wouldn't expect a very large outgo from Zee's end as far as this litigation is concerned," Balaji Subramanian, a research analyst at IIFL Securities, said.

However, it was not possible to know for sure if a clause was violated, as the fine print of the deal was not made public, he added.

Zee is among the biggest players in India's media and entertainment industry, where the likes of Reliance Industries and the Adani Group are expanding their presence.

The company has raised funds, cut jobs to trim costs and is working on reducing losses in some businesses, with the aim to double its margins by 2026.

Last month, Zee and Sony settled all claims after their $10 billion merger failed over Zee's inability to meet some financial terms of the deal.