Zee Entertainment on Thursday said its board has given in-principle approval for raising funds up to `2,000 crore through issuance of shares or eligible securities.Post the announcement, Zee shares rallied 5% intra-day on the BSE before settling at `153.45 apiece, up 4.39% against the previous day’s close.Zee on Monday had said it would consider fundraising by way of issuance of equity shares and/or via private placement, a qualified institutional placement, preferential issue, or any other method or combination of methods subject to such approvals as may be required. In January this year, Sony had called off a $10-billion mega merger with Zee.

“We believe that the fundraising will boost investor confidence, which has been low since the merger with Sony was called off,” Karan Taurani, senior vice-president, research at brokerage Elara Capital, said.

Since the merger collapse, the media company has announced a slew of measures to cut costs and reduce losses in its business, including cutting 15% of its workforce. It has also rejigged its leadership structure and recently withdrew the merger implementation application from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) against Sony. It has, however, sought a $90-million (nearly `750 crore) termination fee from Sony in response to its arbitration proceedings in Singapore.