Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd has started settlement talks with its creditors to pay down debt and clear the final hurdle to complete a merger with Sony Group that would create a $10 billion media giant, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Indian television network has offered to amortise a loan of about Rs 149 crore ($18.1 million) to IDBI Bank Ltd, one of the creditors moving to insolvency court, people familiar with the matter said. The founders of Zee are in separate discussions with the restructuring arms of Axis Bank Ltd and JC Flowers & Co to settle dues of Rs 40 crore each to entities they control, they said.

The repayments are crucial to the merger, creating a media company with the biggest viewing and pricing power in a country of more than 1.4 billion people. After the deal, Sony Pictures Networks India Pvt will own slightly more than half of the shares. Zee’s founders will hold 3.99%, while public shareholders will get the rest.

Several creditors of the company and its founder have been seeking repayment in bankruptcy court. Zee said in a filing that the company paid off one creditor, IndusInd Bank Ltd, just last month, which would withdraw its opposition to the merger.

Atlanta-based Invesco Developing Markets Fund, which owned the largest stake in Zee when the merger was announced, with an 18% stake, exited its entire stake in the company as of last week, according to exchange filings. India’s antitrust regulator approved the 16-month merger deal in October.