Shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) plunged as much as 15% on Monday after dissenting lenders indicated they would challenge the National Company Law Tribunal’s (NCLT) approval of Subhash Chandra’s personal insolvency repayment plan.
The stock opened at ₹100.85 and quickly came under intense selling pressure, falling to an intraday low of ₹87 on the BSE.
At 12:50 pm, ZEEL was trading over 7% lower at ₹93.75.
Lenders Question Voting Process
The sell-off followed objections from lenders over both the voting process and the eligibility of certain entities that supported Chandra’s repayment proposal.
According to dissenting creditors, five entities linked to Chandra’s family—Veena Investments, Direct Media Distribution Ventures, World Crest Advisors, Lemonade Capital Advisors and Corpcall Capital Advisors—collectively held 61.78% of the voting share.
Their votes helped the repayment plan secure 80.81% approval from the committee of creditors, despite the proposal offering only ₹6.5 crore against admitted claims of around ₹22,006.57 crore.
Appeals Could Escalate Insolvency Dispute
Creditors including HDFC Bank and IDBI Trusteeship Services, which represents funds associated with Edelweiss and Franklin Templeton, have argued that the five entities should have been classified as associates or related parties under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
They contend that these entities should therefore have been excluded from voting on the plan.
HDFC Bank, which represents 3.2% of the total claim amount, has indicated that it is considering an appeal against the NCLT order. Canara Bank has said it will challenge the decision before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).
Canara Bank, Union Bank of India and LIC Housing Finance had opposed the repayment proposal, holding voting shares of 1.60%, 0.76% and 6.09%, respectively.
The lender challenge adds another layer of uncertainty around Chandra’s insolvency proceedings and has weighed heavily on investor sentiment towards ZEEL.
