Even as shares of TV company NDTV saw massive upward movement on the stock market, the company issued a statement saying it has nothing to do with the price fluctuation, nor it was in talks with the Adani group for any stake sale.

“We acknowledge the receipt of your (stock exchange BSE) letter dated September 20, 2021, which refers to the news item which appeared in www.economictimes.com dated on September 20, 2021 captioned, ‘NDTV hits 10% upper circuit on rumours of buyout of Adani Group’.

“In this regard, we wish to inform you that the Founder-Promoters of the New Delhi Television Limited (“NDTV/the Company”), Radhika and Prannoy Roy, who are both journalists, are not in discussions now, nor have been, with any entity for a change in ownership or a divestment of their stake in NDTV. They individually and through their company, RRPR Holding Private Limited, continue to hold 61.45 percent of the total paid-up share capital of NDTV,” a regulatory filing made by NDTV said yesterday.

The company also added that it had “no information on why there is a sudden surge in the stock price”.

News agency IANS in a report from New Delhi stated that amid speculation that the entity may be the target of the Adani Group, which is looking to enter the media business through acquisition, NDTV shares on BSE flew in the morning hours of trade to hit the 10 per cent circuit levels. On BSE the stick traded at Rs. 79.65, up 9.94 per cent as of 1.07 p.m.

The agency report added that though NDTV’s financials had been moving up and down, it’s stock has performed exceedingly well rising well over 100 per cent in the last one year. The company has also been subject of tax investigations.

Adani Group Announce Media Forays:Meanwhile, as reported by  Indianbroadcastingworld.com  on Monday, Gautam Adani-promoted Adani Enterprises announced its intentions to be a player in India’s media realm.

In a statement late last week, Adani Enterprises said it has inducted veteran news journalist Sanjay Pugalia as the CEO and editor-in-chief to lead the group’s media initiatives.

A day before the Adanis made the announcement of Pugalia joining their group, he had resigned from digital news publisher The Quint as President and Editorial Director. Pugalia’s former boss at Network18, Raghav Behl, started The Quint.

Amidst speculations, many media houses were named as targets, including NDTV and The Quint.

The buzz in the market is that the Adanis would prefer to buyout an existing media venture, rather than start from scratch. Owning a newspaper doesn’t seem to be in their radar, a person familiar with the Adani group said, adding that the media foray could include presence in TV (buy out a company already having necessary government permissions) and online segments.