India’s New Delhi Television Ltd. (NDTV) tried to stop Gautam Adani’s group from buying a majority stake in the news network on Thursday. NDTV said that due to regulatory restrictions, the bid from the billionaire’s group could not go forward.
In a filing with the stock exchange, NDTV said that its founders, Prannoy and Radhika Roy, won’t be able to buy or sell shares on India’s securities market after 2020. This means that Adani won’t be able to get the shares it was trying to get to gain control.
Adani’s business group said on Tuesday that it wanted a controlling stake in the news channel. NDTV said that the move was “completely unexpected” and that the network had not been consulted or agreed to it.
People think that NDTV is one of the few news outlets that often criticizes the policies of the government in power.
NDTV showed an order from the Securities and Exchange Board of India in 2020 that said the Roys couldn’t trade on Indian markets until November 26, 2022. This was because an investigation found that they made illegal profits in a case involving suspected insider trading of NDTV shares.
“This seems like an attempt by NDTV to stop or slow down the process,” said Pritha Jha, a partner at the Indian law firm Pioneer Legal, which is not involved in the case. “However, other than causing a delay, it is unlikely that this will stop the acquisition from going forward.” On Thursday morning, shares of NDTV went up as high as they could go, which was 5%.
Adani’s plan is based on a little-known company called Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Limited (VCPL), which was started in 2008 and gave Roys Rs4 billion ($50 million) loan years ago.
In return, they gave them warrants that could be turned into equity shares. On Tuesday, the Adani Group said it had bought VCPL and was moving forward to use those rights.
Mahnur is MS(development Studies)Student at NUST University, completed BS Hons in Eng Literature. Content Writer, Policy analyst, Climate Change specialist, Teacher, HR Recruiter.
