Among the senior leadership, Kumar Mangalam Birla will become chairman of the newly merged company. He is the founder and current chairman of Idea Cellular, which he has held for 23 years since 1995.
Balesh Sharma will be the chief executive officer of the new company, and will be responsible for the business strategy and its execution as well as driving the integration. He is currently chief operating officer of Vodafone India and has been since April 2017.
Prior to that he was chief executive officer in several Vodafone subsidiaries, including
Akshaya Moodra will be chief financial officer of the new company, and has been chief financial officer at Idea for nearly ten years since 2008.
Vodafone and Idea are continuing to make progress in securing the needed regulatory approvals for the merger, and is expected to complete in the first half of 2018.
"We are pleased to announce the proposed management team for the new company to be created through the merger of Vodafone India and Idea. The team has extensive operational experience and is an excellent blend of expertise from both companies. We look forward to the completion of the merger and competing as one company in the marketplace," said Group Chief Executive Vittorio Colao.
Shares in Vodafone Group were down 2.3% at
Vodafone (VOD)
