Sony Corp on Friday said the proposed merger with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd will take a few more months to complete, a sign it is prepared to wait until Zee promoters Punit Goenka and his father Subhash Goel sort out their legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

"Based on the current state of preparation, we expect completion within the next few months,” Sony said without providing further details.

It added that the transaction was expected to be completed by the end of first half of fiscal 2022-23, but it could now take few more months.

Zee and Sony had struck an agreement in December 2021 to merge their media businesses in India under which Sony would hold a majority stake in the merged entity with the Zee promoter family holding around 4 per cent with an option to increase their stake to 20 per cent.

On August 10, the National Company law Tribunal had given the green signal to the merger that will create the country’s largest media firm. Approvals have already been secured from the stock exchanges and the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

However, hurdles surfaced with market regulator Sebi barring Zee promoters Goenka and Subhash Chandra from holding position of director or key managerial position in listed entities due to alleged fund diversion.

Goenka had subsequently appealed against the Sebi order at the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT).

Recently, the SAT reserved its order on Goenka's plea against Sebi’s interim order.