Yes Bank Must Decide If It Is Dish TV Investor Or A Lender: Subhash Chandra

Breaking his silence over the Essel group’s dispute with Yes Bank, group patriarch Subhash Chandra said the bank should decide its role as shareholder of satellite TV broadcaster Dish TV India, or a lender, so that the group can accordingly take steps to settle the pending issues with the bank.

In an interview, the founder of Zee group said the family's settlement offer is in Yes Bank’s court and the lender has not taken any steps yet to take the matter forward. “We are willing to give up control of Dish TV to Yes Bank, if the bank is interested in running the day to day operations of Dish TV as a shareholder. But if it’s a lender, then we are ready to negotiate to settle the account,” Chandra, 71, said.

After Yes Bank seized Chandra family's pledged shares following a default, the family’s stake fell to six per cent. The bank currently owns 25.63 per cent in Dish TV worth Rs 713 crore, as on Tuesday. The bank claims it has extended loans of Rs 5,270 crore to 10 different Essel Group entities between 2015 and 2018. According to Chandra, the promoter entities of Essel group owe Rs 4,200 crore but the bank has bunched several loans to other group companies, taking the total amount to Rs 5,270 crore.

“We have already paid back 91 per cent of our lenders and we are ready to settle with Yes Bank by paying back more than what is the bank's stake in Dish TV,” Chandra said. “Our offer will be far better than other accounts where the bank has settled with a larger haircut.” A haircut is the amount the banks forego to settle a default account.

In December this year, the shareholders of Dish TV India voted to remove the promoter-nominated director on Dish TV board and also voted against the annual accounts of the company for the year ending March 2021.

Chandra said the family sold stakes in the group's crown jewel, Zee Entertainment Enterprises to repay lenders. “In many cases, we have paid 80 per cent of the bank dues and I have promised the banks to pay extra if we make profits from our other businesses,” Chandra said.

The Essel group fell into bad times after the promoter entities raised debt worth Rs 13,000 crore from several banks to invest in the infrastructure sector. As several of the infrastructure projects stalled, the investments turned bad and banks seized promoters’ pledged shares including in the flagship, Zee Entertainment Enterprises. As of now, the Chandra family owns only 4 per cent stake in Zee.

In December last year, Zee announced a merger with rival Sony Entertainment to create India’s biggest media company with a market share of 25 per cent. The merger proposal is currently pending with the Competition Commission of India (CCI). “The Zee, Sony merger is on schedule and is awaiting clearances,” Chandra said.

On the group’s future plans, Chandra said the group will focus on Zee Media Corporation, a news and infotainment entity, which has garnered 300 million unique visitors. “We are targeting one billion unique visitors for our news and infotainment business,” Chandra said.

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