Zee Entertainment has rejected all the claims made by Star India, including the $940mn (nearly Rs 8,000 crore) sought in damages. This comes after Star India filed a 'Statement of Case' before the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) on September 16th, in which it declared the termination of the alliance agreement between both the companies.
“The Company categorically refutes all claims and assertions made by Star including its claims for damages. 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 addressed to the stock exchanges. Calling Star India’s claims “unfounded”, the company said it will “strongly contest” them.
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In 2022, both the companies entered into an alliance agreement which sub-licenced the TV broadcasting rights of ICC men’s and under-19 international matches between 2024 and 2027. Earlier this year, Zee had alleged that Star India breached the agreement and sought a refund.
In March, Star India had initiated arbitration proceedings against Zee over the alliance agreement. It had also sent letters to Zee alleging breach of agreement over non-payment of rights fee amounting to $203.56mn.
While Sports broadcasting may no longer be a focus area for Zee, the media entity is not ruling it out completely, Ashish Sehgal, head of integrated advertisement revenue at Zee told Moneycontrol.
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Zee reported a decline of 3.6 per cent YoY in domestic advertising revenue for the June quarter.
The LCIA is a private, not-for-profit international institution for commercial dispute resolution.
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