Ravish Kumar bids goodbye to NDTV following acquisition by Adani

1 Dec 2022 , 11:44 AM

According to news reports, senior journalist Ravish Kumar has resigned from NDTV. This comes just one day after Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy, the channel’s founders, and promoters, resigned from their positions as directors on the board of RRPR Holding Private Limited (RRPRH).

Kumar, a Ramon Magsaysay award winner, used to host a number of programmes for the channel, including Hum Log, Ravish ki Report, Des Ki Baat, and Prime Time. He has also twice bagged the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award.

RRPR Holding’s board of directors has approved the immediate appointment of Sudipta Bhattacharya, Sanjay Pugalia, and Senthil Sinniah Chengalvarayan as Directors.

The resignation of the senior journalist follows the Adani Group’s acquisition of the news channel.

Adani Group purchased VCPL in August and attempted to convert the warrants into shares. NDTV promoters initially opposed the move, claiming they were not consulted, but relented earlier this week and allowed the conversion, giving VCPL a 99.5% stake in RRPR Holding.

Radhika Roy Prannoy Roy Holdings Private Limited, or RRPR, was previously classified as a promoter entity. It owned 29.18% of the news channel. Prannoy Roy holds a 15.94% stake in NDTV, with Radhika Roy owning the remaining 16.32%, (together 32.26%).

A successful open offer will give Adani Group a controlling stake of slightly more than 55%, and it may then seek to remove Roys from the channel’s board of directors. Pugalia is Adani Group’s chief executive officer and editor-in-chief of media initiatives.

At around 11.48 AM, NDTV’s counter was trading at Rs470.05 up by 4.99% from its previous closing of Rs447.70 on the BSE.

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