The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has scheduled a hearing for May 17 to address IDBI Bank and Axis Finance's objections to the merger between Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) and Sony Pictures Networks India.

During a session on Monday, a two-member bench of the appellate tribunal rejected the petitioners' request to postpone the decision until the Mumbai bench of NCLT rules on ZEEL's plea against Sony to enforce the merger.

Following Sony's withdrawal from the merger in January of this year, ZEEL turned to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to compel its execution. ZEEL's plea is expected to be heard by the NCLT starting April 25.

On August 10, 2023, the Mumbai Bench of NCLT approved the ZEEL-Sony merger, which had the potential to establish a $10.5 billion media conglomerate in the country. IDBI Bank and Axis Finance contested NCLT's decision.

While sanctioning the merger, NCLT dismissed certain applications from financial institutions opposing the move, including IDBI Trusteeship, IDBI Bank, Axis Finance, JC Flowers Asset Reconstruction Co, and Imax Corp. IDBI Bank and Axis Finance subsequently appealed this decision before NCLAT.

However, on December 15, 2023, the appellate tribunal declined to halt the merger process.

(With PTI inputs)