With just one week to go before they close their merger, all eyes are on whether Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd and Culver Max Entertainment, formerly Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), will agree on who will lead the combined entity.

It is learnt that while they can stretch the date of the December 21 merger deadline, Zee and Sony are yet to make any announcement on such an extension. In September 2021, Zee and Sony entered into a non-binding agreement to merge their operations.

The two parties later signed a definitive agreement to merge in December 2022, with Zee’s chief executive Punit Goenka leading the combined entity and the majority of the board Sony nominees, including present SPNI managing director and CEO, N.P. Singh.

While the merger has faced various hurdles, a big sticking point arose after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) acted against Goenka and Essel group chairman Subhash Chandra.

In June, the market regulator barred them from holding the position of a director or key managerial personnel in any listed company after they were charged with diverting funds from the company.

However, the Securities and Appellate Tribunal quashed Sebi’s order. Sebi then said it would complete its investigation within eight months.

The regulatory developments saw Sony stating in June it would continue to monitor developments that may affect the merger deal. There have been reports about Sony insisting that Singh should head the merged entity, while Zee was reportedly in favour of Goenka.

With the deadline approaching, negotiations between the two are likely to have intensified.

While there are no comments from both sides as yet, observers said the key questions are whether the parties will wait for Sebi to complete its investigation leading to the deadline being extended or whether will they agree on who would head the merged firm.

If Singh is proposed as the new head, they will have to approach shareholders again for his appointment.

Zee, however, remains confident of stitching the merger. Last month, the company said it was working towards the successful closure of the amalgamation.