India popular news channel NDTV founders Prannoy Roy and his wife Radhika Roy have resigned as the directors of promoter group vehicle RRPR Holding Private Limited as the Adani Group neared takeover of the television channel. RRPR, which has been acquired by the Adani Group, held 29.18 per cent stake in the news channel. Hours later, popular anchor Ravish Kumar resigned as senior executive editor of the channel with immediate effect.
The Roys, however, still hold a 32.26 per cent stake in NDTV as promoters and have not resigned from the board of the news channel.
The board of RRPR Holding has approved the appointment of Sudipta Bhattacharya, Sanjay Pugalia and Senthil Sinniah Chengalvarayan as Directors on its board with immediate effect, NDTV said.
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NDTV president Suparna Singh reportedly announced Kumar's resignation to the channel's employees over an email on Wednesday. "Ravish has resigned from NDTV and the company has agreed to his request for his resignation to be effective immediately. Few journalists have impacted people as much as Ravish. This reflects in the immense feedback about him; in the crowds he draws everywhere; in the prestigious awards and recognition he has received, within India and internationally; and in his daily reports, which champion the rights and needs of those who are under-served. Ravish has been an integral part of NDTV for decades; his contribution has been immense, and we know he will be hugely successful as he embarks on a new beginning," reads Suparna's letter to NDTV employees.
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In his 15-year-stint with NDTV, Ravish anchored some of its leading shows such as Prime Time, Hum Log and Ravish ki Report. The alumnus of Delhi University and the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) became the fifth Indian journalist to be honoured with the Ramon Magsaysay Award. He has been openly critical of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union government’s attack on press freedom, even coining the term ‘godi media’ (roughly translated to ‘lapdog media’).
Roys resign from RRPR: What it means
The New Delhi Television (NDTV) was founded by Radhika and Prannoy Roy. While Prannoy Roy is the Chairperson of NDTV and Radhika Roy is an Executive Director. RRPR, or Radhika Roy Prannoy Roy Holdings Private Limited, till now was classified as a promoter entity. It held 29.18 per cent stake in the news channel. Prannoy Roy holds 15.94 per cent of NDTV and Radhika Roy another 16.32 per cent (together 32.26 per cent). With the duo resigning as directors of the RRPR Group that promoted NDTV, Asia's richest man Gautam Adani one step closer to taking over the media firm.
How Adani is getting closer to taking over NDTV
In 2009, Roys had taken an interest-free loan of over Rs 400 crore from a firm linked to Reliance Industries, that eventually ended up with a closely-held firm, Vishvapradhan Commercial Pvt Ltd. The loan allowed VCPL to convert warrants into shares of RRPR Holdings, which held a 29.2 per cent stake in NDTV.
Adani group in August bought VCPL and sought to convert the warrants into shares. NDTV promoters initially opposed the move saying they were not consulted but earlier this week relented and allowed the conversion, which gave VCPL a 99.5 per cent stake in RRPR Holding.
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With the now Adani group-controlled entity VCPL firmly in the saddle of RRPR Holdings, the Roys resigned as directors of the company.
Post-acquisition of VCPL, Adani group launched an open offer to acquire a 26 per cent stake in NDTV. That offer opened on November 22, and will close on December 5.
The offer has so far got offers for 53.27 lakh shares or a third of the entire open offer size. This despite the deep discount of the open offer price in comparison to the current stock levels.
What it means for India's media landscape
With over 35 million platforms, NDTV is one of the most popular and credible news channels in India and enjoys the respect of being considered an "independent" and neutral news organisation in an increasingly polarised media landscape. While critics accuse it of being pro-Congress, the NDTV has been rated as a highly credible source of news in India. A study led jointly by Oxford University and the Reuters Institute found that 76 percent respondents trusted information they discovered through NDTV.
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Adani is the world's third richest man after Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. Though he is said to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his biographer RN Bhaskar noted in his work that Adani's "relationship with political and social leaders, across all types of party lines, have made him acceptable to every government".
Prior to engaging with the takeover of NDTV, a new company formed by Adani called AMG Media Networks Limited purchased a minority stake in a digital business news company named Quintillion in March. The move by Adani who leads a port-to-energy conglomerate as a BBC report put it had surprised some at the time. In hindsight, Adani seemed to have been preparing for his grand entry into the Indian mediascape.
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His potential takeover of NDTV has prompted fears among critics of the channel losing its editorial integrity. Meanwhile, Adani in an interview to Financial Expresss has expressed big plans for the future of the news channel. He has also said that while news channels must call the government wrong when it is erring, they should also praise it when it does good.
(With inputs from PTI)
