Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani (File | AFP)
NEW DELHI: The open offer by the Adani Group to acquire a majority stake in New Delhi Television (NDTV) didn’t turn out to be a great success as only 53.3 lakh shares or 32% of the offered size (1.68 crore shares) were tendered by existing shareholders by the end of the closing day i.e December 5, 2022.
This accounts for roughly 8.3% of the total equity capital of NDTV. However, together with the 29.18% stake the conglomerate had already acquired via Vishvapradhan Commercial Pvt Ltd (VCPL), the Adanis have now become the largest stakeholder in NDTV and possess a 37.44% stake - larger than 32.26% holding of founders Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy. The Adanis were expecting to take their holding in NDTV to over 50% via this offer.
As per a senior capital market analyst, the deep discount of the offer price when compared with the market share price of NDTV shares is likely to be the main reason why many investors gave the offer a miss. Adani had offered to buy NDTV shares at Rs 294 in the open offer, which represents about 25% discount to Monday’s closing price of Rs 394. “Adani's may now buy shares from institutional investors at additional prices and raise its stake. This means the Roys’ can buy shares and increase their holding. However, it is unlikely they have their financial firepower to go against the Adanis,” said the analyst requesting anonymity.
It was on November 22 when the Adanis launched its open offer to acquire an additional 26% in NDTV. The group had first cornered a 29.18% stake in the media outlet back in August when it had acquired VCPL. As per norms, an open offer is triggered if an acquirer holds over 25% of the public shareholding in a company.
“For now, Adanis should be fine with the 8% shares that have been tendered as they would still be the single largest shareholder in NDTV. With the resulting 37% shareholding, they can still seek control of the board by reconstituting the Board,” said Shriram Subramanian, MD of InGovern Research Services.
