HC restrains Invesco from requisitioning EGM to remove Zee CEO

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted an interim injunction against Invesco, Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd’s (ZEEL) largest shareholder. The court restrained Invesco from going ahead with the requisition of an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to remove ZEEL MD and CEO Punit Goenka.

A single bench presided over by Justice Gautam Patel said, “I have granted an injunction to the respondents.”

The high court reserved its order on the issue last week after ZEEL informed the court that it did not want to hold an EGM of shareholders as requested by Invesco. The submission was in response to a suggestion made by the Bombay HC earlier whereby Justice Patel asked ZEEL if it was willing to hold such a meeting.

Senior counsel Gopal Subramanium appearing for ZEEL told the court at the time that the company’s board of directors could not permit something that may turn out to be ‘illegal’.

Invesco Developing Markets Fund and OFI Global China Fund earlier on September 11 sent a requisition to ZEEL to call for an EGM seeking the removal of MD and CEO Punit Goenka and two other non-independent and non-executive directors from the company’s board.

Along with Invesco, OFI Global China Fund is also among the largest investors of ZEEL. Both also sought induction of six new independent directors. Both of them together hold 17.88% stake.

ZEEL moved the HC on October 2 asking the court to declare the requisition notice for a shareholders meeting sent by Invesco as illegal and invalid.

Meanwhile, ZEEL also cancelled its board meeting on Tuesday citing ‘lack of quorum’. “A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company, which was scheduled to be held on Wednesday, October 27, 2021, inter alia, to consider and approve the unaudited financial results of the Company both on a standalone and consolidated basis for the 2nd quarter and half year ended September 30, 2021, has been cancelled due to lack of quorum,” ZEEL said in a regulatory filing.