Former Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairman UK Sinha has been appointed as non-executive chairman and additional director of New Delhi Television Limited (NDTV) till March 26, 2025. The NDTV board approved the appointment following the company’s acquisition by the Gautam Adani-controlled Adani Group from its former promoters, Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy.
According to a regulatory submission to the bourses, the appointment is subject to approval in the ensuing general meeting of the company and the ministry of information and broadcasting.
Besides, Dipali Goenka, MD and CEO of Welspun India, has been appointed as additional director in the capacity of a non-executive independent woman director.
In August last year, the Adani Group acquired an indirect 29.18 per cent stake in NDTV by acquiring the shares of Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Limited (VCPL), which, in turn, held 99.5 per cent stake in RRPR Holding, a promoter group entity of NDTV.
Post the open offer, Adani Group, through its subsidiaries, holds around 37.5 per cent stake in the media company. Post the offer, Adani Group also increased the offer price by Rs 48.65, bringing the final price to Rs 342.65.
The Roys tried to block the takeover citing regulatory restrictions, but eventually sold 27.26 per cent stake in the media major to Adani-owned entity AMG Media Network on December 30, 2022, and retained a combined 5 per cent.
Post the stake sale, an exchange submission by the Roys stated: “Since the open offer was launched, our discussions with Gautam Adani have been constructive; all the suggestions we made were accepted by him positively and with openness.”
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In its Q3 results, NDTV said its profit had more than halved in the third quarter on weak advertising demand. The broadcaster’s consolidated net profit decreased to Rs 12.9 crore in the third quarter ended Dec. 31, from Rs 27.6 crore in the year-ago period.
Since Hindenburg Research released a scathing report on the Adani Group accusing it of “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme”, the share price of NDTV has slumped 49 per cent to date. Shares of NDTV had surged to a record high of Rs 573 per share following the announcement of Adani’s takeover plans. At present, the share price is around Rs 175 per share.
On Monday, AMG Media Networks declared that it has completed the acquisition of around 49 per cent stake in Quintillion Business Media, which was controlled by Raghav Bahl. The acquisition, which was announced last year in May, was for Rs 48 crore, according to a stock exchange filing by Adani Enterprises. The parties entered into an agreement for sale on May 13, 2022, and the deal was completed on March 27, 2023. The transaction was completed for Rs 47.84 crore, it said in a regulatory filing.
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