India: Adani Group set to acquire popular news channel NDTV

Richest Indian Gautam Adani's group on Tuesday said it will buy a majority stake in New Delhi Television Ltd, one of the nation's most popular news channels, as it looks to boost media investments as part of an ambitious expansion plan.

An Adani Group firm first acquired a company that in the past was linked to rival billionaire Mukesh Ambani. The particular company had loaned Rs 2.5 billion to NDTV in 2008-09 and the Adani group firm now exercised the option to convert that debt into a 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.

NDTV said the debt was converted into equity without any input from the founders or the company.

This will be the ports-to-energy 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 (AEL), had acquired the digital business news platform Quintillion Business Media Pvt Ltd (QBM).

"AMVL's wholly-owned subsidiary Vishvapradhan Commercial Pvt Ltd (VCPL) holds warrants of RRPR Holding Pvt Ltd (RRPR) entitling it to convert them into 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.

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. The open offer price is 19.71 per cent lower than the closing price on Tuesday