Essel Group, (also known as Zee Group) is an Indian
multinational conglomerate
Conglomerate or conglomeration may refer to:
* Conglomerate (company)
* Conglomerate (geology)
* Conglomerate (mathematics)
In popular culture:
* The Conglomerate (American group), a production crew and musical group founded by Busta Rhymes
** ...
holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
and
corporate promoter headquartered in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...
,
Maharashtra
Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdi ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
. The company has had business interests in
mass media
Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets.
Broadcast media transmit informati ...
,
infrastructure
Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...
and
packaging
Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Packaging can be described as a c ...
. It operates the
subsidiary
A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a ...
of
Zee Media Corporation
''Zee Media Corporation Limited'' (abbreviated as ZMCL; formerly Zee News Limited) is the news broadcasting company of the Essel Group which is controlled by Subhash Chandra. The company is engaged mainly in the business of broadcasting of ne ...
. Encumbered with severe debt,
Essel has sold off several of its assets, including
Essel Propack and stakes of Zee Entertainment Enterprises.
Founded in 1926 as the Messrs Ramgopal Indraprasad by Jagannath Goenka, the company was expanded and converted into the Essel Group of Industries by his grandson,
Subhash Chandra.
Chandra is part of the Goenka (Goel) family which owns and operates the group; he was also the chairman of the company and a
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the List of ruling p ...
-backed member of the
Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...
.
History
1926–1967
In 1926, Jagannath Goenka founded the Messrs Ramgopal Indraprasad as a commercial firm to deal in
food grains at the ''mandi'' (
product market) in
Adampur, Hisar. In 1946, as a result of poor performance in Adampur, the firm moved to the town of
Hisar. Goenka attempted to expand the business in 1948 by setting up a
pulses
In medicine, a pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the cardiac cycle (heartbeat) by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface of the body, such as at the nec ...
polishing factory in
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
, but he suffered heavy losses, forcing him to cease Delhi operations in 1951. He moved the Delhi machinery to Hisar, where he was able to turn consistent profits by selling polished
whole grain
A whole grain is a grain of any cereal and pseudocereal that contains the endosperm, germ, and bran, in contrast to refined grains, which retain only the endosperm.
As part of a general healthy diet, consumption of whole grains is associated ...
s to
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
and
South India
South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union terr ...
. By 1966, the firm was operating one
dal mill and two
cotton ginning
A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); ...
factories.
1967–1992
In 1967, the business suffered a series of losses, leaving the Goenka family at a net deficit of . Between 1967–68, the Goenkas' connections in the
Food Corporation of India
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ...
(FCI) helped the family secure not only a deal to supply it with polished pulses and cleaned
barley
Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...
but also a later contract for storage of food grains.
In 1973, control of the company was handed over to
Subhash Chandra, the grandson of Jagannath Goenka.
The company renamed itself the Essel Group in 1976. After acquiring a storage contract with the FCI in the same year, Essel established a new subsidiary, Lamina Packers, to manufacture packaging materials.
In 1981, Essel obtained lucrative export contracts for rice and
soya beans as a result of Indo–
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...
bilateral
trade agreements. According to a 2014 estimate, Essel Group's net worth by 1982 was over .
In December 1982, Lamina Packers became incorporated as
Essel Packaging,
which marked Essel Group's full-blown venture into the
packaging industry {{set category, first= industries (branches of an economy), alternative=industries, topic=Industry (economics)
For other meanings of "industries", see :Industries.
...
, with the primary product being the laminated tube units that originated with Lamina Packers. In 1983, the group also began investing in a future amusement park in Mumbai.
EsselWorld
EsselWorld is an amusement park located in Gorai on Dharavi island, Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre ...
opened six years later, becoming India's first amusement park.
Although the park was partly meant to signal that its parent corporation wanted to be a major force in the
entertainment industry
Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousan ...
, EsselWorld has always been unprofitable.
1992–Present
As of 1992, Essel Group began to take a bigger interest and stake in the entertainment industry. That year it incorporated
Zee Telefilms Ltd and then looked for a place where Zee's content could be broadcast. Zee and
Star TV entered into a joint venture called Asia Today Ltd so Zee could lease a
transponder from satellite network
AsiaSat. The transponder agreement was signed in April 1992, and
Zee TV
Zee TV (stylised as ZEE TV) is a Hindi general entertainment pay television
Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-ba ...
began broadcasting on 1 October.
It was India's first
Hindi Language
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
satellite channel, and by 1994 it had captured 65% of the satellite market share. Zee TV remained the
market leader until 2000.
In 1994, Essel Group incorporated
Siti Cable
Siti Networks Ltd, formerly known as ''Wire and Wireless (India) Limited (WWIL)'', is a multi system operator (MSO) promoted by the Essel Group (now just 6.1% minority stake holder). The company provides digital cable television services in I ...
to be the
distribution Distribution may refer to:
Mathematics
* Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations
*Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a vari ...
subsidiary of Zee Telefilms. Siti would provide
cable service to customers to expand the reach of Zee's satellite channels.
The company continued to develop entertainment channels that successfully competed with
Star India
Disney Star Private Limited is an Indian media conglomerate and a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company India. It is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Disney Star network runs more than 70 TV channels in eight languages, rea ...
, a Star TV subsidiary. In 1998, Essel/Zee turned to journalism with
Zee News
Zee News is an Indian Hindi-language news channel owned by Subhash Chandra's Essel Group. It launched on 27 August 1999 and is the flagship channel of the Zee Media Corporation.
The channel has been involved in several controversies and has ...
, the first 24x7
Hindi Language
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
news channel in India.
In 2000, Zee Telefilms ended its partnership with Star TV by
buying out its shares in Asia Today Ltd. Star India was now free to produce programmes in Hindi in an attempt to target local audiences and lure Zee's viewers away.
Star India would not be Zee's only competition in the coming years. Both international and regional broadcasters ate away at Zee's market share, some substantially.
Zee News saw its market dominance broken with the emergence of competing channels such as
Aaj Tak
''Aaj Tak'' () is an Indian Hindi-language news channel owned by TV Today Network, part of the New Delhi-based media conglomerate Living Media group (India Today Group)
Aaj Tak HD
On 14 December 2018, Aaj Tak launched India's first Hindi h ...
,
STAR News
ABP News is an Indian Hindi-language free-to-air television news channel owned by ABP Group. The news channel was launched in 1998 originally as STAR News before being acquired by ABP Group. It won the Best Hindi News Channel award in the 21 ...
, and
NDTV
New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. The company is considered to be a legacy brand that pioneered independent news broadcasting in India, and is credited for launching t ...
(after its own separation from STAR News).
Trying to get a competitive edge, Zee Telefilms entered into a joint venture with
Turner Broadcasting System
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (lat ...
in 2002 so Zee's subscription packages could include Turner subscription channels such as
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...
,
Pogo, and
HBO alongside Zee Telefilm channels.
Essel also had high hopes for another market and more viewers when, through its subsidiary
Dish TV, it launched the first
direct-to-home television in India on 2 October 2003.
In 2006, Essel separated Zee Telefilms Ltd into three companies: Zee News Ltd, the group's news broadcasting subsidiary; Wire & Wireless India Ltd (later renamed to
Siti Networks
Siti Networks Ltd, formerly known as ''Wire and Wireless (India) Limited (WWIL)'', is a multi system operator (MSO) promoted by the Essel Group (now just 6.1% minority stake holder). The company provides digital cable television services in In ...
), the cable distribution subsidiary; and Zee Telefilms Ltd, which remained the group's direct consumer broadcasting arm.
(Just a year later, Zee Telefilms Ltd was renamed
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, and in 2013 Zee News Ltd became
Zee Media Corporation Ltd.)
Zee Telefilms was trying at this time to enter Indian
sports broadcasting
The broadcasting of sports events (also known as a sportscast) is the live coverage of sports as a television program, on radio, and other broadcasting media. It usually involves one or more sports commentators describing events as they happen. ...
, but acquiring
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...
broadcasting rights proved very difficult. In 2004, Zee briefly secured rights from the
Board of Control for Cricket in India
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at Cricket centre, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The BCCI is the richest governing body of cricket in the worl ...
(BCCI), but the contract was canceled following a legal complaint over the conduct of the rights auction. In 2005, Zee went forward with launching the
Zee Sports channel, and in the following year it bought
Taj Television, which operated the
Ten Sports channels.
After years of failing to get cricket broadcasting rights, in 2007 the Zee firms funded their own
Indian Cricket League (ICL) and televised its games, but it never gained traction and was phased out after two seasons.
Under its own name, Essel Group launched the
Mumbai Football Club that year, which, though it outlasted Essel's investment in sport broadcasting, was defunct by 2019.
In 2016, Zee decided to cut its losses and sold all its sport broadcasting assets to
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
.
The joint distribution venture with Turner India ended in 2018.
By 2019, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) was Essel Group's only profit-generating company; the group had accumulated an overall debt of around .
During the next year, Essel Group sold off part of its pledged shares in ZEEL for the repayment of some of its debt.
Invesco Oppenheimer acquired an 11% stake in the company, while Essel Group's decreased to 22.37%.
Assets
Zee Media Corporation (8.52% stake)
The Zee Media Corporation Limited (abbreviated as ZMCL; formerly Zee News Limited) is the
news broadcasting
News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or tele ...
company of the Essel Group.
The company operates a constellation of news channels under the brand name of ''Zee'' including the English language news channel
WION.
The
Zee News
Zee News is an Indian Hindi-language news channel owned by Subhash Chandra's Essel Group. It launched on 27 August 1999 and is the flagship channel of the Zee Media Corporation.
The channel has been involved in several controversies and has ...
channel is the flagship channel of the company. The Zee Media Corporation also owns and operates the
ZEE5
ZEE5 is an Indian subscription video on-demand and over-the-top streaming service, run by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched in India on 14 February 2018 with content in 12 languages. The ZEE5 mobile app is available on Web, Andro ...
distribution platform.
It was involved in a joint venture with the
Dainik Bhaskar
''Dainik Bhaskar ''is India's largest Hindi-language daily newspaper owned by the Dainik Bhaskar Group. According to Audit Bureau of Circulations, it is ranked 3rd in the world by circulation and is the largest newspaper in India by circu ...
Group for the publication of the
Daily News & Analysis newspaper but the paper was discontinued in 2019 after suffering loses. The corporation also runs the Zee Institute of Media Arts (ZIMA)
which is owned by Zee Learn, the schooling subsidiary of the Essel Group.
The Zee Media Corporation was formerly a subsidiary of the Zee Telefilms Ltd (later renamed to Zee Entertainment Enterprises) and existed under the name of Zee News Limited. It was demerged as a separate company of the Essel Group in 2006.
The Zee News Limited was renamed to Zee Media Corporation in 2013.
Operated channels By Zee Media Corporation
Defunct/Former channels
Zee Learn
The Zee Learn Limited (abbreviated as ZLL; informally referred to as Zee Schools) is the
for-profit education company of the Essel Group. Incorporated in 1958, the company did not begin operating until 2010. Zee Learn founded the
private school
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
chains of Kidzee
preschool
A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary sch ...
s and Mount Litera Zee
K–12
K–12, from kindergarten to 12th grade, is an American English expression that indicates the range of years of publicly supported primary and secondary education found in the United States, which is similar to publicly supported school grade ...
schools. As of 2019, it had more than 1,900 Kidzee preschools and 120 Mount Litera Zee schools across India and three
institutes of higher education
An educational institution is a place where people of different ages gain an education, including preschools, childcare, primary-elementary schools, secondary-high schools, and universities. They provide a large variety of learning environments a ...
; the Zee Institute of Media Arts (ZIMA), Zee Institute of Creative Arts (ZICA) and the Himgiri Zee University, Dehradun (HZU).
The company also promotes and operates the
ZeeQ channel of the Zee Entertainment Enterprises. The student
coaching
Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...
firm MT Educare became a subsidiary of Zee Learn following an acquisition in May 2018.
Siti Networks (6.1% stake)
Siti Networks Limited (abbreviated as SNL; formerly Wire & Wireless India Limited; alternatively Siti Cable) is the
multi-system operator of the Essel Group. It provides
cable distribution services for household consumption. Established in 1994 as a subsidiary of the Zee Telefilms Ltd (later renamed to Zee Entertainment Enterprises),
it was founded as a separate company of the Essel Group following the de-merger of the Zee Telefilms in 2006.
In October 2021, it was reported that promotes have just 6.1% stake left in
Siti Networks
Siti Networks Ltd, formerly known as ''Wire and Wireless (India) Limited (WWIL)'', is a multi system operator (MSO) promoted by the Essel Group (now just 6.1% minority stake holder). The company provides digital cable television services in In ...
.
Dish TV (5.67% stake)
DishTV India Limited (abbreviated as DTIL, stylised as dishtv) is a
Direct to Home
Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna comm ...
(DTH) television provider company which provides DTH service through multiple brands such as Dish TV, d2h and
Zing Digital
Zing or ZING may refer to:
*Zing (model-checker), infrastructure for verification of concurrent software via model checking
* Zing (punctuation) or irony punctuation, invented by English printer Henry Denham in the 1580s
*Zing (quartet), the 2010 ...
.
Dish TV was launched on 2 October 2003 as the DTH provider of the Essel Group and was merged with
Videocon D2H on 22 March 2018.
The Essel Group maintains a 55% stake in the company while the
Videocon Group maintains a 45% stake.
It became the largest DTH provider in India after the merger.
The company is also partnered with
The Times Group
Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited, (abbreviated as B.C.C.L. and d/b/a The Times Group), is an Indian media conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The company remains a family-owned business with Sahu Jain family owning a major ...
owned
MX Player
MX Player is an Indian video streaming and video on demand platform developed by MX Media & Entertainment (formerly J2 Interactive). It has over 280 million users globally. The platform currently operates on an ad-supported model and has a stre ...
for
streaming service
Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
s.
In May 2021, it was reported that promoters' shareholding in
Dish TV has fallen to just 5.67% and
Yes Bank has become biggest stock owner of
Dish TV.
Zee Entertainment Enterprises (3.99% stake)
The Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (abbreviated as ZEEL; formerly Zee Telefilms Limited) is a media and
entertainment
Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...
broadcasting company. It was the primary profit generating company of the Essel Group.
It owns a constellation of
entertainment
Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...
channels under the brand name of ''Zee'' and the channels under the brands of ''Living Entertainment'', ''Big'' and "&".
[List of sources:
*
*
*
*] The Zee Entertainment Enterprise also owns and operates the
record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the pr ...
of
Zee Music Company
Zee Music Co. (ZMC) is an Indian music company, a subsidiary of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. It carries its business activities mainly from New Delhi. The company has captured a major chunk of market share in Bollywood music in a sho ...
and the
film studio
A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the productio ...
of
Zee Studios
Zee Studios is a film production and distribution studio established in 2012, as a subsidiary of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited. Known to include a library of productions under its predecessor banners Zee Motion Pictures and Zee Limelig ...
.
[List of sources:
*
*
*
*
*]
The company was incorporated in 1992 as the Zee Telefilms Limited, the Essel Group's venture into
mass media
Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets.
Broadcast media transmit informati ...
. It launched its flagship television channel, Zee TV on 1 October 1992.
In 2006, two subsidiaries of the company were de-merged from the Zee Telefilms Ltd and segregated as distinct ententes under the Essel Group. Zee News Ltd (later renamed to Zee Media Corporation) became the news broadcasting subsidiary of the group while Wire & Wireless India Limited (later renamed to
Siti Networks
Siti Networks Ltd, formerly known as ''Wire and Wireless (India) Limited (WWIL)'', is a multi system operator (MSO) promoted by the Essel Group (now just 6.1% minority stake holder). The company provides digital cable television services in In ...
) became the
cable distribution company of the group. Following the segregation, Zee Telefilms was rebranded as to Zee Entertainment Enterprises.
Between 2002–2018, the Zee Entertainment Enterprises was involved a joint venture with american distribution brand
Turner India for the distribution of channels in India,
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...
and
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...
. The company was involved in sports broadcasting between 2004–2016. It launched its own private cricket league, the
Indian Cricket League which held two seasons between 2007–2009 but the league failed to gain traction.
In 2016, it sold off all its sports broadcasting assets in the venture to
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
.
As of 2020, the company has suffered successive reduction in revenue and has been subjected to investigative probes by the
Enforcement Directorate
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) is a law enforcement agency and economic intelligence agency responsible for enforcing economic laws and fighting economic crime in India. It is part of the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Gov ...
. The Essel Group has divested a part of its shares in the company for the repayment of pending dues, reducing its stake in the company to 22.37% with much of the remaining stake still pledged as collateral to the remaining dues.
In September 2021 ZEEL Announced merger with
Sony Pictures Networks India
Culver Max Entertainment Private Limited, doing business as Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN or SPNI), is an Indian media conglomerate owned by Sony Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Culver Max Entertainment manages and operates 26 televi ...
In October 2021, it was reported that founder
Subhash Chandra and his son,
Punit Goenka
Punit Goenka is the managing director and chief executive officer of Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Goenka is the elder son of Essel Group Chairman Subhash Chandra. Goenka grew up and studied in several towns and cities— Hisar in Haryana; De ...
together own just 3.99% stake of
Zee Entertainment
Zee Entertainment Enterprises (formerly Zee Telefilms) is an Indian media conglomerate owned by Essel Group. Headquartered in Mumbai, it has interests in television, print, internet, film, businesses related to mobile contents, and operates 45 ...
.
On December 22 board of
Zee Entertainment Enterprises
Zee Entertainment Enterprises (formerly Zee Telefilms) is an Indian media conglomerate owned by Essel Group. Headquartered in Mumbai, it has interests in television, print, internet, film, businesses related to mobile contents, and operates 45 ...
approved the merger with
Sony Pictures Networks India
Culver Max Entertainment Private Limited, doing business as Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN or SPNI), is an Indian media conglomerate owned by Sony Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Culver Max Entertainment manages and operates 26 televi ...
. and now pending for government approval.
Others
Alongside its major subsidiaries, the Essel Group also has investments in
movie screening.
real estate
Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more genera ...
and
infrastructure
Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...
through the companies of E-City Ventures, Suncity Projects and Essel Infraprojects, respectively.
[List of sources:
*
*
*] The group owns and operates the
amusement park
An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
s of "Essel World" and "Water Kingdom" in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...
. The
Shirpur Gold Refinery
Shirpur Gold Refinery ( ) is India's first refinery headquartered in Mumbai. It is a green field precious metal refinery with installed capacity to refine 217 MT p.a. of gold and silver respectively in Shirpur and Dhule in the state of Mahara ...
uses the brand name of ''Zee Gold'' in a joint venture with the Essel Group for the marketing of the refinery's products; the Essel Group gets royalties of 20% on the net profit for the brand usage. The group also operates the online
lottery
A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of ...
Playwin in
Sikkim
Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Sil ...
. The lottery however ceased operation in 2020, following the sale of assets by the Essel Group for the repayment of pending debts.
Divested assets
Essel Propack
The Essel Propack Limited (abbreviated as EPL) was the Tube (packaging), tube packaging company of the Essel Group headquartered in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
. Founded in 1982, the Essel Packaging Limited began commercial production between April–June 1983.
The company was merged with the Switzerland, Swiss tube packaging company Propack in 2000. The Essel Group retained a 34% equity stake in the company while Propack held a 22% equity stake. As of 2009, the company had a global market share of 33% in the toothpaste tube packaging industry. In 2019, The Blackstone Group group acquired a majority stake in the company for US$310 million during the Essel Group's assets sale for the repayment of debts.
Controversy
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Dispute between Promoters)
On 11 September 2021, Invesco asked Zee management to call an "extraordinary general meeting" (EGM) of shareholders to consider its demands. One of the main demands was the removal of
Punit Goenka
Punit Goenka is the managing director and chief executive officer of Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Goenka is the elder son of Essel Group Chairman Subhash Chandra. Goenka grew up and studied in several towns and cities— Hisar in Haryana; De ...
, son of the Zee Network founder. However the Zee board rejected the demand from Invesco to convene an extraordinary general meeting. Invesco Developing Market Funds Moves to a National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the Bombay High Court, seeking a mandatory order for Zee Enterprises Entertainment Limited (ZEEL) to call the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) that the shareholder has been demanding.
OFI Global China Fund, who also moved the NCLT along with Invesco, remarked at the hearing that the meeting that Zee Entertainment board had conducted on October 1 was just a legal formality and that it is a classic case of Forum shopping.
On 11 October 2021, Invesco wrote an open letter to the other shareholders saying they are disappointed that the leadership of Zee has resorted to a reckless public relations campaign in response to the overwhelming demand from shareholders for leadership changes at Zee network. They had also tried to merge Zee with some other Indian company in early 2021, but the Zee board rejected it.
The Zee Board replied to Invesco's open letter saying they didn't care about the company, and Invesco is not motivated by concerns related to any corporate governance issue, but "by the events that transpired during February-April 2021 pointing Invesco purposed deal with Reliance Industries.
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) said it proposed to merge all its media properties with Zee Entertainment at fair valuations during discussions in February and March 2021 that US investment firm Invesco helped arrange with managing director and member of the founding family of the media and entertainment company.
On 21 October, the Bombay High Court asked the Zee board to call an EGM as demanded by shareholder Invesco, and counsel appearing for Zee Entertainment said the company will inform the court of the date of the EGM by the morning of October 22.
On 7 December, Invesco heading towards a resolution, Invesco was expected to back the merger deal with Sony as long as the Goenka family does not get any preferential equity.
On 22 December, board of
Zee Entertainment Enterprises
Zee Entertainment Enterprises (formerly Zee Telefilms) is an Indian media conglomerate owned by Essel Group. Headquartered in Mumbai, it has interests in television, print, internet, film, businesses related to mobile contents, and operates 45 ...
approved the merger with
Sony Pictures Networks India
Culver Max Entertainment Private Limited, doing business as Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN or SPNI), is an Indian media conglomerate owned by Sony Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Culver Max Entertainment manages and operates 26 televi ...
.
References
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{{S&P CNX Nifty companies
Essel Group,
Companies based in Mumbai
Conglomerate companies established in 1926
Indian companies established in 1926
Companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India
Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange