The Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd’s shares have slumped over 13 per cent on Monday to hit an over six-year low after the company said that more than 90 per cent of promoters stake was pledged with financial institutions.
Till today, the stock has touched a low of Rs 205 – a level last seen on 18 April 2013. At 9.50 am, the scrip traded at Rs 215 on BSE, down 9.2 per cent from its previous close. So far this year, shares have declined over 56 per cent.
On Saturday, in an investor call, managing director and chief executive officer Punit Goenka said that of the 22 per cent current promoter shareholding in the company, 90 per cent was pledged with financial institutions. Also, the number of pledged shares have increased compared to the data as on June 30, when it stood at nearly one-third of promoters’ 35.79 per cent shareholding in the company, translating to a pledge of over 210 million shares.
Promoters of Essel Group have a debt of Rs 11,000 crore. Essel Group companies together owe another Rs 11,400 crore separately. To repay the debt, the promoters recently agreed to sell an 11 per cent stake in Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, the group’s flagship media and entertainment firm, for Rs 4,224 crore to US-based Invesco Oppenheimer Developing Markets Fund. In October 2018, Essel Infra sold two operating power transmission assets to Sekura. 
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