The merger between Reliance Industries Limited's (RIL) Viacom18 and Walt Disney's Star India is set to be officially concluded in early November after securing regulatory approvals in India, according to sources familiar with the matter.The merger will create India's biggest and the most powerful media and entertainment conglomerate valued at $8.5 billion. As part of the merger deal, Viacom18 will transfer its assets to Star India, which will be the operating company post the merger.The proposed company will encompass over 100 TV channels and two streaming platforms. The merged entity will retain one streaming platform, Disney+ Hotstar, which is also expected to stream the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025."Most of the formalities for the merger have been finalised, and the combined entity under Star India is set to take effect on November 7," said a source, who requested anonymity, adding that the date might shift slightly.In a recent regulatory filing, RIL said that the Viacom18 and Star India merger is expected to conclude by the third quarter of this financial year, pending additional approvals.Another source said that nothing is sacrosanct right now as some international clearances in the European Union are still awaited."There are some markets where we (Star and Viacom18) and Walt Disney have a presence. We are awaiting those clearances.”RIL declined to comment till press time.The merger, announced on February 28, has been completed in a record eight months, securing approvals from the Competition Commission of India (CCI), the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), and the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB). The CCI granted conditional approval and its detailed verdict is expected soon.While the process of putting together the leadership is still a work in progress, Kevin Vaz and Kiran Mani are slated to serve as co-CEOs, overseeing a workforce of roughly 8,000 employees.However, the merger may lead to some headcount rationalisation due to redundancies, said sources.Vaz is expected to lead the entertainment division, while Mani will oversee the sports division. Both are currently co-CEOs of Viacom18, managing its TV entertainment and digital operations. Sources add that K Madhavan, the country manager of Disney Star, is set to exit after the merger.Some of the key executives tipped to join Vaz and Mani's teams in the merged entity include Alok Jain, Mahesh Shetty, Piyush Goyal, Ishan Chatterjee, Sushant Sreeram, Hursh Shrivastava, Sanjog Gupta, and Ajit Andhare.Apart from Gupta, who currently heads sports for Disney Star, most of these executives are part of Viacom18 and JioCinema. Chatterjee and Sreeram recently joined as chief business officer and chief marketing officer, respectively, of JioCinema.Nita Ambani and Uday Shankar will serve as chair and vice-chair of the merged entity.