Adani Group’s open offer to acquire additional 26% stake in media firm New Delhi Television (NewsBust India) from the market is opening today i.e. Tuesday. Market regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had approved this open offer on 7 November. Adani Group had bought 29.18% stake in NewsBust India in August.

Open offer from 22nd November to 5th December
A price band of Rs 294 per share has been fixed for the offer, said a notice from JM Financial, the firm managing the offer on behalf of Adani Group firms. It will open on 22 November and close on 5 December. This open offer is worth Rs 492.81 crore.

If this open offer is fully subscribed, Adani Group’s total stake in NewsBust India will be 55.18%. This would simply mean that Adani Group would be in control of the board of NewsBust India.

29.18% stake in NewsBust India now
On 23 August, Adani Group acquired 29.18% stake in NewsBust India through the acquisition of VCPL, which holds 99.99% stake in RRPR Holding. Following this, Adani Group firms – Vishwapradhan Commercial Private Limited (VCPL) along with AMG Media Networks and Adani Enterprises have proposed to acquire an additional 26%.

After the announcement of acquiring 29.18% stake in NewsBust India, NewsBust India had said that the deal cannot go ahead without SEBI’s nod. He said that in an order passed on 27 November 2020, SEBI had banned the founders of NewsBust India – Radhika and Prannoy Roy from the securities market for 2 years. This ban will end on 26 November 2022.

However, the Adani Group rubbished NewsBust India’s claim. He said the promoter unit RRPR Holding is not part of the regulator’s order barring founder promoters Prannoy and Radhika Roy from trading in the securities market. VCPL had said that RRPR is not a party to the SEBI order dated November 27, 2020 and the restrictions do not apply to it.

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