Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy divested 13.44% and 13.82% of their shares respectively to the Adani Group. This takes the total share of the Adani group in the NDTV to 64.71%. Roys will hold 2.5% shares each.
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, NDTV is recognized as India’s and Asia’s Most Trusted News Broadcaster.”
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.
23 December, 2022
NDTV founders Prannoy Roy and his wife Radhika Roy have resigned as the directors of promoter group vehicle RRPR Holding Private Limited as the Adani Group neared takeover of the television channel. RRPR, which has been acquired by the Adani Group, held 29.18 per cent stake in the news channel.
Sudeep Bhattacharya, Sanjay Pugalia and Senthil Zinnia Chengalvarayan have taken over as directors on the board of RRPR Holding Pvt soon after the resignation of Prannoy Roy and his wife.
Gautam Adani’s Adani Group has recently owned NDTV
Earlier in August this year, Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Limited (VCPL), a wholly owned subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited (AMNL) which is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL), exercised the rights and acquired 99.5 per cent of the equity shares of RRPR Holding Private Limited, a promoter group company of NDTV.
Following this, Adani Group decided to make an open offer to acquire the next 26 per cent state stake in NDTV, which will take the group’s total stake to 55.18 per cent, enough to take the ownership right of NDTV.
Earlier in October, the Adani Group informed both exchanges, BSE and NSE, that its indirect subsidiary, Vishvapradhan Commercial Pvt Limited (VCPL), had made an open offer to the public shareholders of New Delhi Television Ltd.
However, the Roys hold a 32.26 per cent stake in NDTV.
(With inputs from agencies)