BENGALURU: Shares in India’s NDTV Ltd jumped the maximum permitted 5pc to a 14-year high on Wednesday, after billionaire Gautam Adani’s conglomerate moved to take a near 30pc stake in the media group that could eventually lead to it taking control.

New Delhi Television’s (NDTV) shares surged far beyond the price Adani Group said it would pay in a subsequent mandatory open offer that could take its stake over 55pc. Some analysts said investors were hoping Asia’s richest man would put money into the struggling network.

“All TV channels have been suffering financially, and NDTV suffers a bit more because their rivals are aggressive marketers,” said N. Chandramouli, CEO of TRA Research. “Markets may be reacting because the sentiment is that someone with money is coming in,” he added.

NDTV’s rivals include Times Group’s Times Now and Network18’s CNN-News18, controlled by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani.

Regarded as one of the few media groups that often takes a critical view of the ruling administration’s policies, NDTV said late on Tuesday that Adani Group’s move had come “without any input from, conversation with, or consent of the NDTV founders” Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy.

“The developments ... are totally unexpected,” senior NDTV official Suparna Singh told employees in a memo. “We are in the process of evaluating the next steps, many of which involve regulatory and legal processes.” Some NDTV journalists told Reuters on the condition of anonymity they were fearful of job cuts and losing their editorial independence if Adani Group gained control.

“Almost the last bastion of Independent journalism being taken over by industry,” Kapil Sibal, a former government minister and a top lawyer, said on Twitter.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2022