Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) said it proposed to merge all its media properties with Zee Entertainment at fair valuations during discussions in February and March 2021 that US investment firm Invesco helped arrange with managing director and member of the founding family of the media and entertainment company, Punit Goenka.

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries on Wednesday said that it regrets being drawn into the dispute between Zee and Invesco. "We had made a broad proposal for merger of our media properties with Zee at fair valuations of Zee and all our properties," Reliance said. It said the deal was abandoned as differences arose between Zee's Punit Goenka and Invesco.

But the deal had to be abandoned after differences arose between Goenka and Invesco after the Zee founders demanded increasing their stake by subscribing to preferential warrants, it said. “The investors seemed to be of the view that the founders could always increase their stake through market purchases,” RIL said.

“At Reliance, we respect all founders and have never resorted to any hostile transactions. So, we did not proceed further.”

Zee said on Tuesday that the opposition by Invesco to the proposed Sony deal “runs contray to the very deal Inveso was proposing” with Reliance and that the IS firms demands were motivated by concerns around corporate governance or the company’s business.

Sources said, Invesco had tried to arrange a deal with, the US firm's statement revealed for the first time that it was Reliance Industries runed by Mukesh Ambani.

Zee has accused Invesco of plotting a hostile takeover of the company, dismissed the requests to call a shareholder meet to vote on the US investors’s demands and said it has tightened its process