NDTV founders Roys to sell stake in company to Adani Group

India

oi-PTI

New
Delhi,
Dec
23:
NDTV
founders
Prannoy
Roy
and
his
wife
Radhika
Roy
on
Friday
said
they
will
sell
all
but
5
per
cent
of
their
remaining
shareholding
in
the
news
broadcaster
to
Adani
Group
for
up
to
Rs
647.6
crore.

Roys,
who
founded
New
Delhi
Television
Ltd
(NDTV)
as
India’s
first
and
largest
private
producer
of
news
current
affairs
and
entertainment
television,
lost
their
status
of
being
the
company’s
largest
shareholder
in
recent
weeks.

This
follows
Adani
Group
becoming
the
majority
shareholding
of
NDTV
after
first
buying
out
a
company
backed
by
the
founders
and
then
acquiring
more
shares
from
the
open
market.

Now,
Roys
are
selling
27.26
per
cent
out
of
their
remaining
32.26
per
cent
shareholding
in
NDTV,
according
to
stock
exchange
filings
by
the
company.

The
sale
will
happen
on
or
after
December
30
in
one
or
more
tranches,
it
said
without
disclosing
the
price.

The
volume-weighted
average
market
price
of
NDTV
in
the
last
60
trading
days
is
Rs
368.43,
the
filing
said.

Based
on
this
price,
the
sale
of
1.75
crore
shares
would
fetch
Roys
up
to
Rs
647.6
crore.

Post
acquisition
of
the
founders’ stake,
Adani
Group
will
control
69.71
per
cent
of
NDTV.

“The
(Adani
Group
firm)
AMG
Media
Network,
after
the
recent
open
offer
(made
to
minority
shareholders
after
buying
out
promoter
firm),
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,” the
founders
said
in
a
statement
to
the
stock
exchanges.

The
two
together
hold
32.26
per
cent
stake
in
NDTV
while
the
Adani
Group
now
holds
37.44
per
cent.

The
announcement
came
within
hours
of
the
NDTV
board
appointing
two
nominee
directors
of
the
richest
Asian
Gautam
Adani-run
conglomerate
on
the
board.

“Since
the
open
offer
(by
Adani
Group)
was
launched,
our
discussions
with
Gautam
Adani
have
been
constructive;
all
the
suggestions
we
made
were
accepted
by
him
positively
and
with
openness,”
Roys
said
in
the
statement
without
giving
details.

NDTV
is
home
to
the
some
of
the
best
known
reporters,
anchors
and
producers.
Its
23
offices
and
studios
across
the
country
host
India’s
most
modern
and
sophisticated
production
and
news
gathering
facilities.

“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
recognised
as
‘India’s
and
Asia’s
Most-Trusted
News
Broadcaster,”
the
founders
said
in
the
statement.

Ravish
Kumar
resigns
from
NDTV
India
amid
Adani
takeover

Adani,
they
said,
“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
organisation
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,”
they
added.

Prannoy
Roy
started
with
producing
‘The
World
This
Week’
in
1989.
He
produced
live
coverage
of
the
annual
Union
Budget
in
the
following
year
and
went
on
to
host
analysis
of
general
and
state
election
results.

NDTV
entered
into
a
contract
with
STAR/NTVI
for
producing
news
content
for
its
24
hours
news
channel
in
1997
and
during
the
same
year
entered
into
a
contract
with
BBC
India
to
produce
a
substantial
portion
of
its
content
sourced
from
India.

In
1998,
the
company
started
production
of
content
for
the
Star
News
channel
and
launched
NDTV
Online
with
MSNBC.
NDTV
had
launched
its
news
channels
‘NDTV
24X7’
and
‘NDTV
India’
in
April
14,
2003.
It
launched
its
business
channel
‘NDTV
Profit’
on
January
17,
2005.

It
listed
on
bourses
in
2007.

Adani
Group
acquired
a
29.18
per
cent
stake
in
NDTV
by
buying
a
company
backed
by
the
television
network’s
founders,
Radhika
Roy
and
Prannoy
Roy.
Thereafter,
it
made
an
open
offer
to
acquire
an
additional
26
per
cent
from
public
shareholders.

That
open
offer
found
investors
willing
to
sell
over
53
lakh
shares
of
NDTV
despite
the
deep
discount
on
the
stock’s
trading
price.
The
stock
tendered
translated
to
an
8.26
per
cent
shareholding,
taking
the
total
interest
of
Adani
Group
in
NDTV
to
37.44
per
cent
–
higher
than
the
32.26
per
cent
holding
of
founders.

Consequently,
NDTV
offered
two
board
positions
to
Adani
Group.

And
on
Friday,
Adani
Group
nominees
Sanjay
Pugalia
and
Senthil
Sinniah
Chengalvarayan
were
approved
as
directors
on
the
board.

By
virtue
of
it
being
the
largest
shareholding
of
NDTV,
Adani
Group
also
got
the
right
to
nominate
a
chairman
of
the
news
broadcaster.
But
NDTV
in
the
filing
did
not
mention
about
it.

Currently,
Prannoy
Roy
is
the
chairperson
of
NDTV
while
his
wife
Radhika
Roy
is
an
executive
director.

Prannoy
Roy
owns
a
15.94
per
cent
stake
and
Radhika
Roy
another
16.32
per
cent.

Prior
to
Adani
Group’s
hostile
takeover,
promoters
held
61.45
per
cent
shares
in
NDTV.
This
included
1.88
crore
shares
or
29.18
per
cent
held
by
RRPR
Holding
Pvt
Ltd.

RRPR
Holding
Pvt
Ltd
is
the
firm
that
Adani
Group
indirectly
acquired
in
August,
triggering
an
open
offer
to
buy
a
further
26
per
cent
of
the
media
company.

Gautam
Adani,
the
richest
Asian
and
the
founder
chairman
of
Adani
group,
last
month
told
the
Financial
Times
that
he
intends
to
scale
up
NDTV
to
make
it
an
international
media
group
and
had
asked
Prannoy
Roy
to
remain
as
chair.

NDTV
will
give
Adani
Group
a
footprint
in
the
media
space
as
part
of
its
broader
diversification
spree
that
has
led
to
the
expansion
of
the
conglomerate
beyond
coal
mining
and
ports
into
airports,
data
centres,
cement
and
digital
services.

In
2009,
RRPR
or
Radhika
Roy
Prannoy
Roy
Holdings
Private
Limited,
took
an
interest-free
loan
of
Rs
403
crore
from
a
firm
linked
to
Reliance
Industries
that
eventually
ended
up
with
a
closely-held
firm
Vishvapradhan
Commercial
Pvt
Ltd
(VCPL).
The
loan
allowed
VCPL
to
convert
warrants
into
shares
of
RRPR
Holdings,
which
held
a
29.18
per
cent
stake
in
NDTV.

In
August,
Adani
Group
acquired
VCPL
and
sought
the
conversion
of
warrants
arising
from
unpaid
loans
into
equity.
NDTV
initially
said
the
move
was
“executed
without
any
input
from,
conversation
with,
or
consent
of” its
founders.
But
late
last
month,
the
conversion
was
agreed
to,
and
Adani
got
29.18
per
cent
shares
of
NDTV.

Post
takeover,
Adani
Group
appointed
two
of
its
executives
–
Sudipta
Bhattacharya
and
Sanjay
Pugalia
–
to
the
RRPR
board,
as
well
as
Senthil
Chengalvarayan,
a
journalist
who
is
an
independent
director
at
Quintillion
Business
Media
Pvt,
another
media
firm
in
which
Adani
bought
a
stake
earlier
this
year.

Pugalia,
a
former
journalist,
is
the
chief
executive
officer
and
editor-in-chief
of
media
initiatives
at
Adani
Group.