Mumbai: Billionaire Gautam Adani has acquired a controlling share in New Delhi Television Limited, which is promoted by Pranay and Radhika Roy.
Adani Enterprises, via its indirect subsidiary RRPR Holdings, purchased an additional 1.76 crore shares of NDTV from the Roys on Friday for around Rs. 602 crore (Rs. 342.65 per share), giving it a 27.26% stake in the firm.
The shares were transferred through an inter-se transfer in accordance with the Securities and Exchange Board of India Rules, 2011, which permit share transfers at a premium to the current market price provided the business is an established promoter group.
By purchasing Roy’s share, the Adani Group now controls 64.71% of NDTV.
A promoter group started RRPR Holdings, and in August of this year, Adani Group’s AMG Media Network bought it through the conversion of warrants.After the acquisition, the Adani Group declared an open bid to purchase a further 26% of NDTV in compliance with SEBI’s takeover requirements, bringing its total stake to 37.45%.
On December 23, Roys revealed their intention to sell a portion of their interest to the Adani Group while maintaining a 5% ownership stake in the firm they formed. The transfer was completed in four blocks on Friday morning.
The Adani Group acquired Vishvapradhan Commercial in August, a company that extended a loan of Rs. 403.85 crore to RRPR Holding in 2009-10 in exchange for warrants, convertible into a 99.9% stake in RRPR Holding if the loan was not repaid.
Adani Group purchased NDTV with warrants and declared an open offer for an additional 26% at Rs. 294 per share. Even though the open offer price was much lower than the scrip’s closing price of Rs. 376.55 per share on the same day, the Adani Group was still able to buy an 8.26% stake in NDTV, making it the only stakeholder in the broadcasting company.
On Friday at 2 p.m., NDTV shares were trading at Rs. 347.1 per share on the BSE.
