Adani Group’s open offer for NDTV gets Sebi nod

Adani Group’s open offer for NDTV gets Sebi nod

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Monday approved the Adani Group’s open offer for 26% shares of New Delhi Television (NDTV). A statement on the market regulator’s website said it has allowed Adani to buy more equity from the media firm’s minority shareholders.

Owned by Asia’s richest man Gautam Adani, the conglomerate has revised the offer’s rollout date. Now, it will open on November 22 and close on December 5, NDTV said last week. The previous timeline for the open offer by Adani was October 17 to November 1, but it was delayed in the absence of Sebi’s approval.

Vishvapradhan Commercial (VCPL), along with AMG Media Networks and Adani Enterprises, has proposed to acquire an additional 26%, or 1.67 crore equity shares, at an offer price of `294 per share.

NDTV’s share price closed at `364.50 on Monday – the difference between the offer price and the current price is a good 24%.

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Market analysts said the huge difference in the price may not lead to many tendering their shares in the open offer since selling it in the secondary market will be much more lucrative. According to BSE data, public shareholders hold 38.55% stake in the company as of September 2022. In August, Adani entities had acquired VCPL which had lent over `403 crore to NDTV founders led by Prannoy Roy. VPCL had lent the amount in 2009-10 in exchange for warrants that allowed it to acquire a stake of 29.18% in NDTV at any time. Against this interest-free loan, RRPR Holding issued warrants to VCPL entitling it to convert them into a 99.9% stake in RRPR. The promoters have opposed the bid.