Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) shares climbed nearly 9% on Tuesday after reports claimed that there would be an emergency arbitration hearing of its now-terminated merger with the Sony Group in Singapore.

ZEEL’s shares hit an intraday high of Rs 176.30, 8.99% higher than its last closing price on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). At 2:25 pm, the stock was trading 5.04% higher at Rs 169.90.

On January 22, Sony terminated the $10-billion merger of its Indian unit with Zee Entertainment and demanded a $90 million termination fee. Sony also initiated arbitration proceedings for an alleged breach of terms by the latter. 

Zee Ltd called Sony’s demand legally untenable and has also denied the breach of the merger agreement in response to Sony. 

On January 24, Zee moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) against Sony Pictures and initiated legal action to contest Sony Pictures Networks’ claims at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre.

Minutes after the report of an emergency arbitration in Singapore surfaced, the NCLT agreed to hear Zee shareholder Mad Man Film Ventures’ plea on the merger.