The Adani Group on Friday announced that it has acquired a 27.26% equity stake in NDTV from the news channel’s founders Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy. With this, the conglomerate has acquired majority stakes in the media firm.

“RRPR [Radhika Roy Prannoy Roy Holding Private Limited], an indirect subsidiary of the company and member of the promoter/promoter group of NDTV, has acquired a 27.26% equity stake in NDTV from Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy by way of inter-se transfer...,” Adani Enterprises said in a regulatory filing.

On November 30, the NDTV founders had resigned from RRPR, or Radhika Roy Prannoy Roy, Holding Private Limited, which held 29.18% of their total stake in the news channel. On December 23, Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy announced that they would sell 27.26% of their 32.26% shareholding in the news channel to the Adani Group.

The Adani Group has acquired stocks from the Roys at the price of Rs 342.65 per share, reported The Hindu. Based on this, the sale of 1.75 crore shares would have fetched the Roys about 602.30 crore, according to the news channel.

“The acquisition was completed on December 30, 2022, on the block deal window of NSE [National Stock Exchange],” the group said in its filing before before the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The conglomerate added that it now holds a 56.45% stake in NDTV.

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Adani Group’s acquisition of NDTV stake

On August 23, AMG Media Networks Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Adani Enterprises, bought 100% of the equity stakes in Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Limited, or VCPL, for Rs 113.74 crore.

Later in the month, the Adani Group announced that it will acquire a 29.18% stake in NDTV through VPCL. NDTV had then said that the takeover was done without the consent or any sort of notice served to Radhika Roy and Prannoy Roy.

The acquisition was possible as VCPL had given a loan of Rs 403.85 crore to NDTV in 2009. According to the terms of the loan, the company held the right to exercise its warrants and convert the loan amount into equity shares – which it did after being bought by the Adani Group.

In November, the Adani Group, a ports-to-energy conglomerate, decided to make an open offer to acquire an additional 26% stake in NDTV. The offer opened for subscription on November 22 and continued till December 5.