The head of Sony Group Corp’s India unit has sent a letter to its employees assuring them the company will thrive despite its aborted merger with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd.

The Japanese entertainment giant will turn its focus to content that can boost subscriber growth and revenue in the South Asian country, while actively exploring “inorganic possibilities to strengthen our market presence”, N. P. Singh, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Sony Pictures Networks India, said in the letter seen by Bloomberg News on Wednesday.

“Let’s turn our attention back to the heart of our work – our current projects, our fantastic team, and the audiences who count on us,” Singh said, adding that the leadership was “committed to setting the company up for a long-term, strong future”.

Sony has also initiated an arbitration case against Zee, alleging breaches of the merger agreement, Bloomberg quoted a Variety report, citing people it didn’t identify.

Sony scrapped the two-year-long negotiation earlier this week amid a stalemate with Zee on whether its CEO Punit Goenka should be the head of the merged entity.

The termination notice from Sony, which the Japanese parent posted on its website and seen by Indianbroadcastingworld.com on January 22, stated Sony Pictures Networks India Private Ltd. (SPNI), now known as Culver Max Entertainment Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation, issued a notice terminating the definitive agreements entered into by SPNI and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. relating to the merger of ZEEL with and into SPNI, which was previously announced on December 22

“The definitive agreements provided that if the merger did not close by the date twenty-four months after their signature date, the parties would be required to discuss in good faith an extension of the End Date required to make the merger effective by a reasonable period of time,” the termination note said.

As the merger did not close by the end date as, among other things, the closing conditions to the merger were not satisfied by then, SPNI has been engaged in discussions in good faith to extend the end date but the discussion period has expired without an agreement upon an extension of the end date.

“As a result, on January 22, 2024, SPNI issued a notice to ZEEL terminating the definitive agreements,” the Sony group communication added.