Indian regulators have accredited, after a lot delay, the proposed merger between Sony’s TV operations in India and the nation’s Zee Leisure Enterprises.

It could convey collectively linear TV networks, digital companies, manufacturing operations and content material libraries to create an Indian sector powerhouse.

The merger, first unveiled in 2021, confronted antitrust and different issues. Final yr, the 2 firms provided concessions on such points as worth reductions to ease regulatory worries earlier than receiving antitrust approval for the deal. The corporate additionally ran right into a hurdle when the Securities and Alternate Board of India banned Zee bosses Subhash Chandra and Punit Goenka from the boardrooms of publicly traded firms for a yr.

Now, nevertheless, the deal appears prepared to shut. On Thursday, the Mumbai department of the Nationwide Firm Legislation Tribunal gave its inexperienced gentle, clearing the way in which for the mixture.

Within the deal, as unveiled in late 2021, Sony Photos Community India (SPNI) and Zee Leisure agreed to kind India’s second-largest leisure community by income and create through the merger a regional content material big masking movie, TV and streaming. Lined had been 75 linear TV channels, two streaming providers (SonyLIV and Zee5), two main movie studios, a digital content material studio (Studio NXT) and a mixed program library with a number of thousand movies and collection.

The mixed big would retain Zee’s inventory market itemizing in India, whereas Sony would personal a controlling stake of round 51 % because of a money injection.