Tag: NDTV

Twitter blocks ANI account for age criteria violation, NDTV’s handle suspended for unknown reason

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Twitter accounts of Asian News International (ANI), one of the largest news agencies in India, and leading news channel NDTV have been locked by the micro-blogging platform. While the ANI account has been blocked for age criteria violation the reason behind the suspension of NDTV’s official handle is not known.

On Saturday, users attempting to access ANI’s Twitter handle were told, ‘This account doesn’t exist’.

ANI Editor Smita Prakash shared a screenshot of the email sent by Twitter, which informed the news agency that their account has been locked. The email read, “In order to create a Twitter account, you must be at least 13 years old. Twitter has determined that you don’t meet these age requirements, so your account has been locked and will be removed from Twitter.”

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Shortly after ANI’s account was suspended, Smita Prakash tweeted, “So those who follow ANI bad news, Twitter has locked out India’s largest news agency which has 7.6 million followers and sent this mail – under 13 years of age! Our gold tick was taken away, substituted with a blue tick and now locked out.”

So those who follow @ANI bad news, @Twitter has locked out India’s largest news agency which has 7.6 million followers and sent this mail – under 13 years of age! Our gold tick was taken away, substituted with blue tick and now locked out. @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/sm8e765zr4

— Smita Prakash (@smitaprakash) April 29, 2023

According to the ANI website, South Asia’s top multimedia news organisation has over 100 bureaus in South Asia, India, and other parts of the world.

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In another incident, the Twitter account of the Indian news platform NDTV has also been locked by the social media platform. As of now, the reason behind Twitter locking NDTV’s account is unknown. The channel has stated that it is working with Twitter to restore its Twitter account.

We are working with Twitter to restore @ndtv account. Please follow @ndtvfeed for news alerts and updates

— NDTV News feed (@ndtvfeed) April 29, 2023

Several issues related to Twitter have been reported by users since Elon Musk took over as the social media company’s CEO and reduced staff, raising concerns about the platform’s sustainability with fewer engineers.

Twitter had recently removed the blue tick of several eminent personalities as they had not subscribed to the Twitter Blue service.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

NDTV appoints former SEBI chairman UK Sinha as non-executive chairman

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The board of New Delhi Television Limited (NDTV) has approved the appointment of former SEBI chairman UK Sinha as non-executive chairman and additional director for till March 26, 2025.

This is subject to approval in the ensuing general meeting of the company and the ministry of information and broadcasting. In addition, Dipali Goenka, MD and CEO of Welspun India, has been appointed as additional director in the capacity of non-executive independent woman director. These appointments come in the wake of significant changes in NDTV’s leadership, following the acquisition of the company by the Gautam Adani-led Group from its erstwhile promoters, Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy.

Since the acquisition, NDTV has seen several top-level exits, including Ravish Kumar, Nidhi Razdan, Sreenivasan Jain, Suparna Singh, Chief Strategy Officer Arijit Chatterjee, Chief Technology and Product Officer Kawaljit Singh Bedi and many others. The Gautam Adani Group now controls nearly 65 percent stake in NDTV, after the company’s founders decided to sell most of their shares in December 2022, four months after the launch of the takeover of the news network.

Before the final tranche of share buy, Adani held 37 percent of NDTV after an open offer and an acquisition of a company owned by the founders. Despite several unsuccessful attempts by NDTV to block the takeover citing regulatory restrictions, the Roys sold 27.26 percent stake in NDTV to Adani-owned entity AMG Media Network on December 30, 2022, and retained a combined 5 percent.

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In the exchange disclosure post the stake sale, Roys said, “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.”

Shares of NDTV had surged to a record high of Rs 573 per share in the days following the announcement of Adani’s takeover plans. However, the share price of NDTV is currently around Rs 175 per share, 49 percent lower than the price Adani Group had bought from Roys.

This fall in the share price is in line with other group stocks since the US-based research firm Hindenburg released a report alleging wrongdoing by Gautam Adani and the group companies.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Adani to pay Rs 48.65 more for NDTV shares to match payment to founders

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Asia’s richest person Gautam Adani’s group on Tuesday said it will pay an additional Rs 48.65 per share to NDTV stockholders who tendered their shares in its open offer to help match what it had paid to buy out a stake of the news broadcaster’s founders.

Adani Enterprises in a stock exchange filing said it will pay an additional Rs 48.65 per NDTV share to investors, who had sold their shares in an open offer between November 22 and December 5, taking the payout to Rs 342.65 a share and matching what it paid to buy Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy’s stake.

Adani Group first acquired Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Limited, a little-known company that had given Rs 403 crore of an interest-free loan to RRPR Holdings – a company founded by the Roys and bore their initials in its name – in 2009-10 in exchange for warrants that allowed it to buy a stake in the newsgroup at any time. Adani group exercised those rights in August last year, which NDTV at that time said was done without its consent.

The Adani group took control of RRPR Holdings, which held a 29.18 per cent stake in NDTV. Thereafter, it made an open offer to acquire an additional 26 per cent from public shareholders.

That open offer was made at a price of Rs 294 per share. And despite the open offer price being at a deep discount to the stock’s trading price, it found investors willing to sell over 53 lakh shares or 8.27 per cent shareholding.

The twin transactions gave Adani group a stake higher than what founders Prannoy Roy and his wife Radhika held in the firm.

And last week, Adani group bought 27.26 per cent out of the 32.26 per cent stake that Roys had in the firm for Rs 342.65 per share.

In all, Roys got Rs 602 crore.

Also read: Adani Group to control nearly 65% of NDTV as founders sell stake

Prannoy Roy held a 15.94 per cent stake in NDTV, of which, he has sold all but a 2.5 per cent shareholding. His wife Radhika Roy too sold all but 2.5 per cent of the 16.32 per cent stake she had in NDTV.

Adani group now holds 64.71 per cent of New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV), according to a regulatory filing.

Post that, Roys resigned from the NDTV board. Prannoy Roy was the chairperson of the company.

Adani group, which had named two directors on the NDTV board following its acquisition of Radhika Roy Prannoy Roy (RRPR) Holdings Pvt Ltd, replaced them with two more of its nominees.

It has appointed retired IAS officer Sunil Kumar and former civil servant Aman Kumar Singh to the board of NDTV.

The two served under BJP’s Raman Singh, who was chief minister of Chhattisgarh from 2003 to 2018. While Sunil Kumar retired as chief secretary of Chhattisgarh in 2014, Aman Singh, who was principal secretary to former Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh, resigned from service after BJP lost power in 2018.

While Sunil Kumar’s exact role in the Adani group is not known, Aman Singh heads the corporate communications department.

Adani group had previously named Sanjay Pugalia and Senthil Sinniah Chengalvarayan as its directors on the NDTV board.

Pugalia, a former journalist, is the chief executive officer and editor-in-chief of media initiatives at Adani Group. Chengalvarayan, a journalist, is an independent director at Quintillion Business Media Pvt, another media firm in which Adani bought a stake last year.

NDTV will give Adani Group a footprint in the media space as part of its broader diversification spree that has led to the expansion of the conglomerate beyond coal mining and ports into airports, data centres, cement and digital services.

Also read: Explained: How Gautam Adani’s takeover of NDTV played out

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Adani Group to control nearly 65% of NDTV as founders sell stake

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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NDTV founders Prannoy Roy and his wife Radhika announced on Friday that they will sell 27.26 percent of their remaining 32.26 percent ownership stake in the news organisation to Adani Group.

After first buying out a company backed by the founders and then acquiring further shares on the open market, the Adani Group now holds the biggest stake in New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV).

The founders in a statement to stock exchanges said, “Consequently, with mutual agreement we have decided to divest most of our shares in NDTV to (Adani Group firm) AMG Media Network.”

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Together, the duo hold 32.26 percent stake in NDTV, while Adani Group currently owns 37.44 percent of the company’s shares. The pair will sell 27.26 percent of their 32.26 percent stake while keeping a minority 5 percent position in the business.

“Since the open offer (by Adani Group) was launched, our discussions with Gautam Adani have been constructive; all the suggestions we made were accepted by him positively and with openness,” they said in the statement.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Explained: How Gautam Adani’s takeover of NDTV played out

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Amid the takeover bid by the Adani Group, NDTV promoters Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy resigned as directors on the board of RRPR Holding Private Limited (RRPRH) on Tuesday, November 29. The board of RRPRH, the promoter group vehicle of New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV), approved the resignations of Prannoy Roy, who served as the chairperson of NDTV, and Radhika Roy, who was the executive director.

With the exit of Roys,  the longstanding promoters of RRPRH, the takeover of this entity, which holds some 29.18 stake in NDTV, by Adani group is complete. Following this, the RRPRH board has appointed Sudipta Bhattacharya, Sanjay Pugalia and Senthil Sinniah Chengalvarayan as directors of the company with immediate effect, IANS reported.

On Monday, Reuters reported that NDTV promoter firm RRPR Holding  transferred shares constituting 99.5 percent of its equity capital to an entity  called Vishvapradhan Commercial (VCPL), which is now owned by the Adani group. With the transfer of shares, the Adani group’s stake in NDTV rose to 29.18 percent as of now.

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The billionaire is also conducting an open offer from November 22 to December 5 for an additional 26 percent stake in NDTV, Reuters reported.

Earlier, senior journalist Prannoy Roy held a 15.94 percent stake in NDTV, while his wife Radhika Roy holds 16.32 percent, taking their total to 32.26 percent in the newsgroup. RRPR Holdings, an abbreviation used for Radhika Roy and Pranay Roy, held another 29.18 percent stake in the NDTV shareholding, making these three the promoters of the beleaguered broadcaster.

Ports-to-energy conglomerate Adani-group announced plans to acquire a majority stake in NDTV in August. At the heart of the two-stage plan to acquire one of India’s most popular TV channels was a little-known Indian company called Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Limited (VCPL), founded in 2008, that was once associated with the Mukesh Ambani group.

Here is a look at how the hostile takeover has played out.

Why VCPL matters

The Adani Group announced its acquisition of VCPL in August, which cleared the way for the group to cement its control over NDTV.

In June 2008, NDTV founders Radhika and Prannoy Roy raised a loan of Rs 540 crore from Indiabulls Financial Services Private Limited for NDTV. In exchange, they pledged their shareholding in NDTV as security.

Four months later in October 2008, Radhika and Prannoy Roy took another loan of Rs 375 crore from ICICI Bank at a rate of 19 percent per annum to pay off the Indiabulls Housing Finance loan. The promoters pledged their entire shareholding in NDTV to secure this loan and also signed non-disposal undertakings with ICICI bank.

ALSO READ: Adani Group to buy 29.2% stake in NDTV, launch open offer for another 26%

In July 2009, the Roys took a loan of Rs 350 crore at zero interest rate from VCPL to pay off the loan taken from ICICI Bank. At the same time, the promoters agreed to execute two call option agreements between RRPR and VCPL, which gave the latter the right to acquire a 26 percent stake in NDTV at a price of Rs 214.65 per share. Following this, VCPL granted another loan of Rs 53.85 crore to the NDTV promoters.

As part of the loan agreement, the promoters agreed that RRPR would issue convertible warrants to VCPL which could be converted into equity shares aggregating to 99.99 percent of the fully diluted equity share capital of RRPR. Also, it was agreed that this conversion could be carried out at any time during the tenure of the loan or thereafter.

This meant that as long as the warrants were not executed, the Roys would continue to be promoters of the channel without the threat of a takeover.

However, Adani’s media flagship company, AMG Media Networks Ltd, acquired VCPL for Rs 113.75 crore and announced on August 23 that it was exercising those rights. The company gave the Roys just 48 hours to convert the warrants to shares.

Hostile takeover

One of the clauses of the agreement with VCPL stated that the company and its affiliates could not acquire NDTV shares to increase their holding to more than 26 percent without the consent of the promoters.

NDTV has reiterated that Adani’s takeover is being executed without discussion, consent or notice.

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Open offer

According to Indian securities regulation by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the acquiring entity’s indirect control over a stake above 25 percent means that it would have to announce an open offer to purchase at least 26 percent more from existing shareholders, giving them an opportunity to exit. The Adani Group announced an open offer for a further 26 percent in NDTV this month.

If the Adani Group gets 26 percent through the open offer, its stake would go up to 55.18 percent, while the founding couple would have around 32 percent stake in NDTV. However, if the Adanis fail to get a 50 percent stake, it would still have the option to buy shares from other institutional investors.

Besides the Roys, the single largest shareholder of NDTV is Mauritius-based foreign portfolio investor LTS Investment Fund Ltd which holds a 9.75 percent stake in the newsgroup. LTS Investment Fund acquired this stake in 2016. Another foreign portfolio investor, Mauritius-based Vikasa India EIF I Fund, holds a 4.42 percent stake in NDTV, which it acquired in 2021. Apart from these, other NDTV shareholders include GRD Securities (2.82 percent), Adesh Broking House (1.5 percent), Drolia Agencies (1.48 percent) and Confirm Realbuild (1.33 percent).

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Adani group’s Rs 493 crore open offer for NDTV to start from Tuesday

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Adani group’s open offer to acquire an additional 26 percent stake in the media firm New Delhi Television (NDTV) from the market would start from Tuesday. The offer, for which a price band of Rs 294 per share has been fixed, will open on November 22 and closes on December 5, said a notice by JM Financial, the firm managing the offer on behalf of Adani Group firms.

Markets regulator Sebi on November 7 granted its approval to the proposed Rs 492.81 crore-open offer.

The conglomerate, run by India’s richest man Gautam Adani, in August acquired a little-known company that lent over Rs 400 crore to NDTV’s founders more than a decade ago in exchange for warrants that allowed the company to acquire a stake of 29.18 percent in the newsgroup at any time.

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Post that, VCPL – the firm that the Adani group bought out – announced that it would launch an open offer on October 17 to buy an additional 26 percent stake from minority shareholders of NDTV. However, the offer was delayed since Sebi had not given its approval to the open offer.

VCPL along with AMG Media Networks and Adani Enterprises Ltd had proposed to acquire an additional 26 percent or 1.67 crore equity shares at an offer price of Rs 294 per share.

If fully subscribed, the open offer will amount to Rs 492.81 crore at a price of Rs 294 per share.

“The decision to acquire NDTV was arrived at in furtherance of the Adani Group’s objective to set up a credible next-generation media platform with an emphasis on digital and broadcast segments, and that NDTV is a suitable broadcast and digital platform to deliver on this vision,” Adani Enterprises had said in a regulatory filing in October.

On Monday, shares of NDTV closed at Rs 382.20 on BSE, down 5 percent, touching a lower circuit.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Sebi approves Adani Group’s open offer for 26% stake in NDTV

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Markets regulator Sebi has approved Adani Group’s open offer to buy an additional 26 percent stake in media firm New Delhi Television (NDTV) and the offer will commence on November 22.

According to an update on Sebi’s website on Monday, the regulator gave its final comments on the proposed Rs 492.81 crore-open offer on November 7.

The offer will tentatively open on November 22 and close on December 5. The price fixed is Rs 294 per share, as per a recent regulatory filing by NDTV.

The conglomerate, run by India’s richest man Gautam Adani, in August acquired a little-known company that lent over Rs 400 crore to NDTV’s founders more than a decade ago in exchange for warrants that allowed the company to acquire a stake of 29.2 percent in the newsgroup at any time.

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Post that, Vishvapradhan Commercial Pvt Ltd (VCPL) – the firm that Adani group bought out – announced that it would launch an open offer on October 17 to buy an additional 26 percent stake from minority shareholders of NDTV. However, the offer was delayed since Sebi had not given its approval to the open offer.

VCPL along with AMG Media Networks and Adani Enterprises Ltd had proposed to acquire an additional 26 percent or 1.7 crore equity shares at an offer price of Rs 294 per share.

If fully subscribed, the open offer will amount to Rs 492.8 crore at a price of Rs 294 per share.

“The decision to acquire NDTV was arrived at in furtherance of the Adani Group’s objective to set up a credible next-generation media platform with an emphasis on digital and broadcast segments, and that NDTV is a suitable broadcast and digital platform to deliver on this vision,” Adani Enterprises said in a regulatory filing in October.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

NDTV announces open offer for stake sale to VCPL, Adani Media Networks and Adani Enterprises

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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One of India’s oldest TV networks – New Delhi Television (NDTV) is offering 26 percent of its public shareholding to VCPL, Adani Media Networks and Adani Enterprises.

As per the filing, the offer is now proposed to open for subscription on 22 November and will close on 5 December.

The news broadcaster has opened an offer for the acquisition of up to 16,762,530 fully paid-up equity shares of the face value of Rs. 4 each that will make up 26 percent of the voting share capital of New Delhi Television Ltd from the public shareholders.

The acquirer of this deal here is Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Ltd along with AMG Media Networks Limited (PAC 1) and Adani Enterprises Limited (PAC 2) in their capacity as persons that will act under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 2011 and the subsequent amendments thereafter.

Also read: Adani Group to buy 29.2% stake in NDTV, launch open offer for another 26%

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Adani Group to buy 29.2% stake in NDTV, launch open offer for another 26%

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Adani Group’s media arm AMG Media Networks Limited (AMNL) on August 23 announced that it would indirectly acquire a 29.18 percent stake in media giant New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV). It would also launch a Rs 493-crore open offer for another 26 percent stake in NDTV at Rs 294 per share. 

The acquisition of 29.18 percent stake will be indirect, as it will be made through Vishvapradhan Commercial Pvt Ltd (VCPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of AMNL, which is owned by Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL).

“VCPL, along with AMNL & AEL (persons acting in concert), will launch an open offer to acquire up to 26% stake in NDTV, in compliance with the requirements of the SEBI’s (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 2011,” Adani said in an exchange filing.

VCPL has exercised the right to acquire “99.5 percent of the equity shares of RRPR Holding Private Limited,” a promoter entity of NDTV which holds 29.18 percent stake in the media group.

NDTV recorded a revenue of Rs 421 crore with an EBITDA of Rs 123 crore and net profit of Rs 85 crore in FY22 with negligible debt.

“This acquisition is a significant milestone in the journey of AMNL’s goal to pave the path of new age media across platforms,” said Sanjay Pugalia, CEO, AMG Media Networks Ltd.

“AMNL seeks to empower Indian citizens, consumers and those interested in India, with information and knowledge. With its leading position in news and its 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 news delivery,” Pugalia said.

NDTV’s shares closed 5 percent higher today at Rs 376.55 apiece.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow