The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) on June 15 refused to pass an interim order on Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) MD and CEO Punit Goenka’s plea challenging the SEBI interim order that bars them from holding the position of a director or key managerial personnel in any listed company. At the hearing, it said, passing an interim order would be virtually allowing the appeal. The tribunal has asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to file a reply in the matter before the appellant before 2 pm on June 18.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has postponed the hearing on the Zee-Sony merger to July 6. The merger will create a $10 billion media powerhouse, with Zee Entertainment becoming a subsidiary of Sony. The NCLT had previously instructed the stock exchanges to review their approval of the merger, but the decision was overturned. Zee claims to have secured all necessary approvals and aims to bring in $1.5 billion in foreign direct investment through the merger. Sony will hold a majority stake in the combined company and a non-compete fee will be paid to the Essel Group promoters.

UAE-based Lulu Group plans to invest Rs 10,000 crore in India over the next three years, with a focus on ongoing projects. The chairman, Yusuff Ali MA, aims to create employment opportunities for 50,000 people and has already provided over 22,000 jobs. The group has committed around Rs 3,500 crore for investments in Telangana, including a major shopping mall in Hyderabad and other cities in the state.

L&T Finance Holdings reduced its wholesale finance book sharply from Rs 59,072 crore in FY20 to Rs 19,840 crore in FY23. In Q4FY23 itself, the company reduced its wholesale book by Rs 11,586 crore, according to the Moneycontrol.