Asia’s richest person buys majority stake in news organization in ‘hostile’ takeover TechCrunch
Adani Group on Tuesday said it would buy a majority stake in NDTV, a prominent Indian news agency, in an apparently hostile takeover as billionaire Gautam Adani expands his media ambitions.
AMG Media Networks, Adani’s unit, will indirectly buy a 29.18% stake in New Delhi Television and make an open offer to acquire an additional 26% stake, the Indian conglomerate said. The open offer is expected to be worth $61.77 million.
Founded three decades ago, NDTV is one of India’s most popular news organizations and a rare asset that consistently takes a critical stance on the efforts of the ruling government.
The New Delhi-based business, which operates three TV news channels and maintains a large web presence, said on Tuesday that neither the company nor the founder held any conversations. , giving consent or input for the acquisition of a majority share.
“Without any discussions with New Delhi Television Limited (NDTV) or its founder-promoters, a notice was sent to them by Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Limited (VCPL), stating that they (VCPL) ) exercised its right to acquire 99.50% control of RRPR Holding Private Limited (RRPRH), a 29.18% NDTV-owned Company by the promoter. The announcement from VCPL is based on a loan agreement it signed with NDTV founders Radhika and Prannoy Roy in 2009-10. The announcement states that VCPL has exercised the option to convert 19,90,000 warrants into shares of RRPRH at Rs. 10/- per share, and that’s a total of Rs. 1.99 crores has been transferred to RRPRH,” added NDTV.
The acquisition comes as Adani, Asia’s richest man, wants to dive into the media sector and competes fiercely with Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of oil and telecommunications giant Reliance Industries, on a path other. Ambani owns the Network18 media property.
“This acquisition is an important milestone in AMNL’s goal-driven journey to pave the way for new age media across platforms,” said Sanjay Pugalia, CEO of AMG Media Networks. Pugalia, CEO of AMG Media Networks, said.
“AMNL seeks to empower information and knowledge for Indian citizens, consumers and those interested in India. With a leadership position in news and a strong and diverse reach across genres and geographies, NDTV is the most suitable broadcast and digital platform to deliver on our vision. . We look forward to strengthening NDTV’s leadership in delivering news.”
