Adani entity’s move to acquire 29.18% stake without consent, says NDTV
- NDTV or its founders were not aware of any transaction and were not part of any discussion regarding the stake sale, the company said in a statement
Hours after Adani Group, indirectly acquired a 29.2% stake in New Delhi Television Ltd, and offered to buy another 26% from the open market, NDTV said the move to take control of the media company's major shareholder was without consent from the firm or its founders.
"NDTV founders and the company would like to make it clear that this exercise of rights by VCPL was executed without any input from, conversation with, or consent of the NDTV founders, who, like NDTV, have been made aware of this exercise of rights only today," NDTV said in a regulatory filing.
"As recently as yesterday, NDTV had informed the stock exchanges that there was no change in the shareholding of its founders," the media giant further said.
Billionaire Gautam Adani's conglomerate will buy a majority stake in NDTV, marking its most high-profile media bet and setting the stage for a face-off in the sector with fellow tycoon Mukesh Ambani.
Adani Group firms announced an open offer at ₹294 per share – a 20.5% discount to NDTV’s closing share price on the day.
This acquisition marked “a significant milestone” for AMG Media Networks Ltd. that aims to “pave the path of new age media across platforms,” Sanjay Pugalia, the company’s chief executive officer said in a statement. “NDTV is the most suitable broadcast and digital platform to deliver on our vision.”
The group’s founder-billionaire Adani, with the world’s biggest wealth gain this year, built his empire on agri-trading and ports but has speedily diversified into airports, data centers, cement, renewable energy and now media. This breakneck growth, sometimes in unrelated sectors, is making some investors wary about the group being too indebted and the management bandwidth getting too stretched across newer businesses.
Earlier this year, Adani Enterprises Ltd established AMG Media Networks, an arm it said would be in the publishing and broadcasting businesses among other things.
NDTV produces and broadcasts news in English and Hindi. In March, Adani Media Ventures Ltd agreed to buy a stake in Quintillion Business Media Pvt.
The Adani group is reportedly exploring buying stakes in some local television and print news outlets, while a few have approached the conglomerate also to study potential deals.
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First Published:24 Aug 2022, 03:37 PM IST
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