New Delhi, Aug 24 : The Congress on Wednesday criticized the Adani group’s purchase of 29.18 percent shares in the media group NDTV as a “hostile purchase”.On Twitter, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh tweeted: “The news of a highly leveraged company controlled by the PM’s ‘khaas dost’ submitting an attempt to take over of a well-known news TV network is nothing more than a concentration of political and economic power, and an egregious move to control and suppress any notion of independent media.”
In a bizarre twist of things the media house has stated that, without having any discussions with the New Delhi Television Limited (NDTV) or its founder-promoters or founders, a notice was served to the latter by Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Limited (VCPL) informing them that it (VCPL) has used its right to acquire 99.50 percent control of RRPR Holding Private Limited (RRPRH) which is the promoter-owned company which has 29.18 percent of NDTV.
“The NDTV founders and the company would like to make clear that the exercise of rights by VCPL was carried out without involvement, discussion with or the approval of the NDTV founders and the company, who, like NDTV were informed of the exercise of rights only recently.RRPRH is the owner of 29.18 percent of NDTV and has been ordered to surrender within 2 days all of its equity shares to VCPL,” the media house stated in an regulatory filing.
The following Monday morning, NDTV released a clarification regarding the issue in which it stated: “We have been asked by a reporter at an enterprise newspaper to provide a clarify whether the founders-promoters of NDTV sell their share in NDTV that is held through RRPR Holding Private Limited.”
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