NDTV stock rises 5 pc; hits upper circuit limit on Adani group takeover bid

New Delhi: NDTV's share price rose 5 per cent, hitting the upper circuit in opening trade on Wednesday, a day after the Adani group launched a hostile bid to take over the media house.

The stock climbed 5 per cent to Rs 384.50 -- its upper circuit limit as well as 52-week high -- on the BSE after beginning the trade on a positive note.

The company's market capitalisation climbed Rs 117.99 crore to Rs 2,478.92 crore on the BSE.

On the NSE, it jumped 4.99 per cent to Rs 388.20 -- its upper circuit limit as also the one-year peak.

After declining in opening trade, the 30-share benchmark Sensex was trading 87 points higher at 59,118.24 points in late morning trade.

In a move that has significant ramifications for the media landscape, billionaire Gautam Adani on Tuesday launched a hostile bid to take over NDTV, first with an indirect acquisition of 29.18 per cent stake in the broadcaster followed by an offer to buy out a further 26 per cent controlling stake.

On Tuesday, the owners of New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV), a popular news channel, said they were completely unaware of the takeover until Tuesday, and that it was done without their consent or any discussion.

Three Adani group firms - Vishvapradhan Commercial Pvt Ltd (VCPL) along with AMG Media Networks and Adani Enterprises Ltd - have come out with a public announcement for the offer under the Sebi norms.

The open offer to acquire an additional 26 per cent or 1.67 crore equity shares in NDTV is worth nearly Rs 493 crore. The offer price is Rs 294 per share, 19.71 per cent lower than the closing price on Tuesday.

NDTV's share price, which has risen more than 300 per cent so far this year, closed at Rs 366.20 apiece on BSE on Tuesday.

If the open offer is successful, the Adani group will have more than 55 per cent stake in NDTV.

As the Adani group looks to boost media investments as part of an ambitious expansion plan, a group firm first acquired a company that in the past was linked to rival billionaire Mukesh Ambani.

The particular company had loaned Rs 250 crore to NDTV in 2008-09 and the Adani group firm now exercised the option to convert that debt into 29.18 per cent stake in the news channel company.

Subsequently, it has launched an open offer for another 26 per cent stake, the group said in a statement on Tuesday.

"AMVL's wholly-owned subsidiary VCPL holds warrants of RRPR Holding Pvt Ltd (RRPR) entitling it to convert them into a 99.9 per cent stake in RRPR. VCPL has exercised warrants to acquire 99.5 per cent in RRPR," it said.

Such acquisition will result in VCPL acquiring control of RRPR.

"RRPR is a promoter group company of NDTV and holds a 29.18 per cent stake in NDTV," the statement said.

On Tuesday, NDTV said the exercise of the right by VCPL was executed without any input of the company or its founders.

In an internal communication to its employees on Tuesday, NDTV said, "the developments of today are entirely unexpected for NDTV, and for Radhika and Prannoy".

"We are in the process of evaluating the next steps, many of which involve regulatory and legal processes," it added.

The bid for NDTV will be the Adani group's most high-profile bet in the media sector where Ambani already has a sizeable presence through Network18, which runs a bouquet of channels, including news channel CNN-News18 and business channel CNBC-TV18.

Last year, Adani Media Ventures Ltd (AMVL), the media arm under the group's flagship Adani Enterprises Ltd, had acquired the digital business news platform Quintillion Business Media Pvt Ltd (QBM).

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