Adani lifts payout for NDTV open offer to match payment to founders

Adani Enterprises said on Tuesday it will raise the amount it pays NDTV stockholders who tendered their shares in the conglomerate's open offer to match what it paid the news broadcaster's founders for their stake. Adani Enterprises said it will pay an additional Rs 48.65 per NDTV share to investors who sold their shares in an open offer between Nov. 22 and Dec 5, taking the payout to Rs 342.65 per share and matching what it paid NDTV founders Radhika and Prannoy Roy.

"The Securities and Exchange Board of India's takeover guidelines are clear ... Whatever price the acquiree gets, the minority shareholders also should get the same," said Shriram Subramanian, managing director of InGovern Research Services, a Bengaluru-based corporate governance advisory firm. About 5.3 million shares were tendered in the open offer, at Rs 294 per share, and billionaire Gautam Adani now controls about 65 per cent of NDTV after acquiring a 27.26 per cent stake from the Roys last week, four months after launching his takeover. NDTV's stock is down about 20 per cent since Adani's announced his takeover plans in August. They were last up 1.2 per cent on Tuesday.