Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited suffered a major setback in his cricket activities as he Walt Disney missed a crucial payment of $200 million to the Indian unit of the company for the television rights of cricket matches. Sources familiar with the matter revealed that Zee cited cash crunch for skipping the installment due in early January, prompting Disney to seek clarification on the matter.

The payment is part of the $1.4 billion committed by Zee for payment under the license agreement signed in August 2022 for the TV rights of International Cricket Council men’s matches in India till 2027. However, the Mumbai-based media giant failed to provide the bank guarantee required for this payment, raising concerns about potential legal disputes.

This blunder has come to light amidst the ongoing case of collapse of Zee’s merger with Sony Group Corp. Let us tell you that Bloomberg News in its report had earlier reported Sony’s intention to issue a deal termination notice to Zee, while Zee maintained its stance on continued efforts towards finalizing the merger.

The impact of this lapse goes beyond financial troubles, creating uncertainties about potential legal implications for Zee. Failure to respect payment deadlines could lead to legal complications, adding to the company’s existing challenges amid the impending fallout of the merger.

Zee Entertainment’s shares also witnessed a decline.

Zee Entertainment had pinned its hopes on these rights to increase its viewership and attract more advertisers, making this default a significant blow to its strategic plans.

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The fallout from this missed payment was felt strongly in the stock market, as Zee shares fell as much as 14% before recovering slightly. As per the latest update, the company’s shares were trading 7.7% down in Mumbai, in contrast to the upward move of the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex.