Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy, founders of New Delhi Television Limited (NDTV), have given a statement on Friday (December 23). In this statement Prannoy and Radhika have said that they will sell almost all their shares in NDTV to Adani Group.
According to the report, Prannoy-Radhika have said that they have decided to transfer majority of their shares in NDTV to Gautam Adani's group. They will sell their 27.26% stake in NDTV to Adani. With this, the control of 64.71% stakes of NDTV will be with Adani Group.
Radhika-Prannoy shared that they started NDTV in the year 1988 with the belief that journalism in India is world-class, but needed a strong and effective broadcast platform to allow it to grow and shine. He further said that after 34 years, he believes that NDTV is an institution that has fulfilled a lot of his hopes and idea.
Radhika-Prannoy revealed that AMG Media Network is now the largest shareholder in NDTV after the recent open offer. Consequently, by mutual agreement, we have decided to sell majority of our shares in NDTV to AMG Media Network.
He said that his discussions with Gautam Adani since the launch of the open offer have been positive. Gautam Adani has accepted all his suggestions positively and with openness.
Radhika-Prannoy said Gautam Adani has invested in a brand that is synonymous with trust, reliability and independence and we hope he will uphold these values. Will bestow upon him all the responsibilities required of a leader of such an organization. We look forward to watching NDTV and its entire extraordinary team deliver the next phase of development that India can be proud of.
Let us tell you that Adani Group became the largest shareholder of media company NDTV after the open offer this month. In this open offer, 8.32% ie total 5.33 million (53.3 lakh) equity shares were tendered to Adani Group. Earlier, RRPR Holding Pvt Ltd (RRPRH), a company backed by the founders of NDTV, had transferred shares to the Adani Group company.
This gave Adani Group a 29.18% stake in NDTV. At the same time, after the open offer, Adani Group now has a total stake of 37.5% in NDTV. This simply means that the Adani Group now had complete control over the board of NDTV. Earlier, NDTV promoters Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy had resigned as directors with immediate effect.
This open offer of Adani Group was worth Rs 492.81 crore. Had this open offer been fully subscribed, Adani Group's total stake in NDTV would have gone up to 55.18%, but it did not happen. Let us tell you that Adani Group had earlier bought 29.18% stake in NDTV in August.
