Founders of India’s News Outlet NDTV Resign After Billionaire’s Takeover of Company

Chairperson of Indian conglomerate Adani Group, Gautam Adani, speaks at the World Congress of Accountants in Mumbai on Nov. 19, 2022. (Indranil Mukherjee/AFP via Getty Images)

The founders of New Delhi Television Ltd. (NDTV) have resigned from the board of the promoter group vehicle, which owns a major stake in the Indian news network, as Adani Group’s takeover of the company draws to a close.

NDTV announced Tuesday that its promoter group vehicle, RRPR Holding Private Ltd., has approved the resignations of Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy—the husband and wife who founded the news outlet in 1988.

The board also approved the appointment of Sudipta Bhattacharya, Sanjay Pugalia, and Senthil Sinniah Chengalvarayan as new directors with immediate effect, the company said in a statement posted by ANI.

The promoter group vehicle owns 29.18 percent of NDTV and is being acquired by the Adani Group, an Indian conglomerate owned by Gautam Adani, the world’s third richest man according to Forbes.

Founders Unhappy With Takeover

In August, Adani acquired a 100 percent stake in Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Limited (VCPL), the company that loaned the founders 4 billion rupees ($49 million) over a decade ago in exchange for warrants that allowed it to acquire a 29.18 percent stake in NDTV.

VCPL later exercised its right to convert the warrants into equity shares, granting it 99.5 percent control of the promoter group vehicle and indirect control of the stake in NDTV.

The move prompted NDTV to issue a statement on Aug. 23 to clarify that the exercise of rights by VCPL was executed “without any input from, conversation with, or consent of the NDTV founders.”

Adani is also conducting an open offer for a 26 percent stake in NDTV.

NDTV sought to block the transfer of shares in August, saying its founders had been barred from buying or selling shares in India’s securities market since 2020, and so cannot transfer shares which Adani was trying to secure in a bid to exert control.

The news group ultimately said Monday that an entity backed by its founders had issued shares to a unit of Adani Group after the market regulator’s restrictions on its founders expired on Nov. 26.

NDTV, founded in 1988, blazed a trail for independent broadcasting in India as the country opened up to free market enterprise. Journalists in the country view Adani’s play with trepidation.

The proposed takeover comes amid a worsening landscape for independent journalism in the country. India fell to 150 out of 180 countries ranked in Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index this year, its lowest position ever.

Reuters contributed to this report.