Vodafone-Idea Merger: CEO Balesh Sharma To Lead India’s Largest Telecom Chaired By Kumar Mangalam Birla

Kumar Mangalam Birla will be the non-executive chairman of the merged company. A non-executive chairman is entrusted with no operational responsibilities but only enjoys the board responsibilities, said Vodafone.

Balesh Sharma, currently chief operating officer of Vodafone India, will be the CEO. Mr Sharma will be responsible for the combined business’s strategy and its execution as well as driving integration, according to a statement from Vodafone.

CFO Akshaya Moondra, currently chief financial officer at Idea, will head the finance function of the merged entity. Ambrish Jain, currently deputy managing director at Idea, will be the chief operating officer (COO) of merged entity.

Nick Gliddon, currently director, Vodafone Business Services at Vodafone India, will be responsible for the Enterprise Business while Manish Dawar, currently CFO of Vodafone India, will have the overall responsibility for integration planning, governance and execution in the Kumar Mangalam Birla-led telecom company.

Sashi Shankar, currently chief marketing officer at Idea, will be responsible for marketing and brand strategy for the consumer business. Vishant Vora, currently chief technology officer of Vodafone India, will have responsibility for networks and overall technology strategy.

Prakash Paranjape, currently chief information officer at Idea, will be responsible for the IT operations of the Kumar Mangalam Birla-led merged company.

The existing leadership teams of Idea Cellular and Vodafone India will continue to manage their separate businesses and be accountable for each company’s operational performance until the merger becomes effective.

It is only the upon completion of the merger which is expected to come into effect by the first half of the current calendar year – that the two businesses will cease to operate as distinct and competing entities.

For the merger, the companies first approached the approval of Competition Commission of India (CCI). On July 24, last year the CCI gave its approval to the merger of two telecom companies. On October 13 last year, shareholders of Idea Cellular gave their approval to the scheme relating to the merger of its mobile business with Vodafone India. Over 99 per cent of Idea shareholders voted in favour of the merger at the shareholders’ meeting on October 12, 2017, stock exchange filing by Kumar Mangalam Birla-led Idea Cellular stated.

Following the shareholders’ approval, the companies sought approval from the National Companies Law Tribunal (NCLT). As the NCLT approved the proposed merger, the companies are now free to approach the department of telecom for the final approval.