ZEE board nods fresh buy-back of Rs 280 cr

Essel Group firm Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd on Wednesday said its board has approved a fresh buy-back of equity shares for up to Rs 280 crore (Rs 2.8 billion).

"The buy-back shall be under the 'open market' mechanism through stock exchanges, at a price not exceeding Rs 140 per equity share," ZEEL said in a filing to the BSE.

The aggregate consideration payable for such buy-back shall be limited to Rs 280 crore, it said.

The total buyback value shall not exceed 10 per cent of the paid-up capital and free reserves of the company for the financial year ended March 31, 2011,

it added.

Last month ZEEL had announced closure of an earlier buy-back programme that commenced on July 27, 2011.

The company had bought back over 1.93 crore (19.3 million) equity shares for Rs 231.93 crore (Rs 2.31 billion) under it.

The fresh buyback has been proposed since the company was able to buy-back shares only up to a value of Rs 232 crore (Rs 2.32 billion) as against the shareholder approved limit of Rs 700 crore (Rs 7 billion).

ZEEL's shares closed at Rs 134.55 per share, down 2.18 per cent from the previous close on the BSE.