Adani Group has become the majority owner of the news channel NDTV as Radhika Roy and Prannoy Roy – the founders of NDTV – have divested most of their shares to the AMG Media Network of Adani Group in an open offer.
The Roys informed about the decision in a public statement issued on Friday in which they hoped that Mr. Gautam Adani will “preserve the trust, credibility, and independence” of the brand NDTV.
Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy have divested 13.44% and 13.82% of their shares respectively to the Adani Group, a total of 1,75, 77,676 equity shares. This takes the total share of the Adani group in the NDTV to 64.71%. Both Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy will retain 2.5% shares each in New Delhi Television Limited.
In their statement, the Roys said, “We started NDTV in 1988 in the belief that journalism in India was world-class but needed a strong and effective broadcast platform that would allow it to grow and shine. After 34 years, we believe that NDTV is an institution that has met so many of our hopes and ideals; we are so proud and grateful that across the globe,”
The statement further read, “The AMG Media Network, after the recent Open Offer, is now the single-largest shareholder in NDTV. Consequently, with mutual agreement, we have decided to divest most of our shares in NDTV to the AMG Media Network. Since the Open Offer was launched, our discussions with Mr. Gautam Adani have been constructive; all the suggestions we made were accepted by him positively and with openness.”
The Roys concluded their statement by saying, “Mr. Adani has invested in a brand that is synonymous with Trust, Credibility, and Independence, and we are hopeful that he will preserve these values and expand upon them with all the responsibility required of a leader of an organization of this nature. We look forward to watching NDTV, and its entire extraordinary team, delivering the next phase of growth, one that India can be proud of.”
In a regulatory filing with BSE today, NDTV gave details of the share transfer. Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy held 32.26% share in NDTV in their personal capacity, apart from the holding through RRPR Holding which was already acquired by Adani group earlier. From this personal stake, they have transferred 27.26% of shares to RRPR holding which is now owned by Adani group. After this, the stake of RRPR in NDTV has gone up to 56.45% as it already owned 29.18% stake, while Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Limited, also under Adani group, has 8.27% stake in the media house. Therefore, the total stake of the Adani group in NDTV has gone up to 64.71%, while only 5% remains with the promoters now.
Earlier on 28th November 2022, New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV)’s promoter company RRPR Holding transferred 99.5% of its equity shares to Adani group-owned Vishvapradhan Commercial (VCPL). RRPR owned 29.18 percent of NDTV, hence Adani Group obtained a 29.18 percent stake in NDTV in this manner.
On November 11, 2022, Adani group announced it will launch an open offer to acquire an additional 26% of NDTV’s public shares. On Tuesday, 20th December 2022, Adani Group’s Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Limited acquired an 8.27% stake in New Delhi Television Limited through an open offer. Under the acquisition, it bought 5,330,792 shares with a face value of ₹4 each at a price of ₹294 per share. NDTV share price closed at ₹340.00 today.
With this acquisition, Adani owned a total of 37.45% of the shares in the company. Prannoy Roy and his wife Radhika Roy’s stake in the company following the takeover was decreased to 15.94% and 16.32%, respectively. The Roys, who then jointly owned about 32.26% of the shares, were surpassed by Adani as the largest stakeholder in NDTV as a result of this transaction. Now that the stakes held by both Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy are reduced to 2.5% each, Adani Group with 64.71% shares has become the owner of NDTV.
(This piece is taken with gratitude from OpIndia)
