Late on Wednesday, February 1, in a video message, Indian billionaire Gautam Adani announced that his flagship firm Adani Enterprises has withdrawn the follow-on public offering (FPO) of shares worth 20,000 crores and decided to refund the investors their invested money. NDTV, like several other media outlets, published Adani’s video message on its official Twitter handle on February 2.
🔴 #BREAKING | “Interest of investors paramount, everything is secondary,” says Gautam Adani after calling off FPO https://t.co/vt5FXlpM25 pic.twitter.com/QTFZyXPdwP
— NDTV (@ndtv) February 2, 2023
Nonetheless, NDTV’s decision to post Adani’s video message infuriated innumerable Congress fanboys and leftists on social media, who sneered at the industrialist and channel, which was recently taken over by his company.
Associate Professor (IT) Rakhi Tripathi commented, “I feel bad for you NDTV,” for some reason.
I feel bad for you NDTV
— Rakhi Tripathi (@rakhitripathi) February 2, 2023
Hitendra Pithadiya, a Congress leader, mocked Gautam Adani, chairman and founder of the multinational conglomerate Adani Group, insinuating that the billionaire businessman will soon join the BJP because he has switched his usual clothing, a suit, with the ‘Nehru jacket’ frequently sported by PM Modi.
सूट की जगह नेहरू जैकेट.? लगता है अब प्रत्यक्ष रूप से भाजपा जॉइन करेंगे पर अभी आपने जयश्री राम नहीं बोला तो भक्तजन नाराज है।
— Hitendra Pithadiya 🇮🇳 (@HitenPithadiya) February 2, 2023
Several more liberals chimed in to mock the leftist media outlet NDTV for posting Gautam Adani’s video message to his investors. “I stopped seeing their channel on TV, stopped visiting their website and uninstalled ndtv app. Now unfollowing from twitter. Bye ndtv,” wrote a Twitter user (@raguynt), seeming quite miffed with the idea that NDTV chose to share a piece of news that practically all news channels have aired.
I stopped seeing their channel on TV, stopped visiting their website and uninstalled ndtv app.
— Raghuraman L.N. (@raghuynt) February 2, 2023
Now unfollowing from tweeter. Bye ndtv.
Another Twitter user @SarcasticRofl, took a sarcastic jibe at the media outlet saying, “Owners are Paramount, everything is secondary – NDTV.”
Owners are Paramount, everything is secondary – NDTV
— Sarcasm ™️ (@SarcasticRofl) February 2, 2023
@Dr Syeda posted a meme mocking the media outlet by hinting at what NDTV’s ex-employee Ravish Kumar must be like at this moment. Notably, Ravish Kumar resigned from NDTV after Adani Group gained control crying ‘attack on media’.
Ravish kumar to @ndtv pic.twitter.com/frsDka6Yba
— Dr_Syeda (@Dr_Syeda_) February 2, 2023
Adani Enterprises not to go ahead with its FPO of shares worth 20,000 crore, to return money to investors
Meanwhile, the Board of Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) on February 1, 2023, decided not to go ahead with the fully subscribed Follow-on Public Offer (FPO).
The company said in a release that given the unprecedented situation and the current market volatility, it “aims to protect the interest of its investing community by returning the FPO proceeds and withdraws the completed transaction”.
Gautam Adani, Chairman, of Adani Enterprises Ltd referred to the volatility in the stock over the last week and said the interest of the investors is paramount and to insulate them from any potential financial losses, the Board has decided not to go ahead with the FPO.
Notably, on Tuesday, the last day for subscription, the follow-on public offer (FPO) issued by Adani Enterprises was fully subscribed. Data showed the demand for the FPO was led by non-institutional investors, and they subscribed to the shares 3.26 times.
There were concerns that the FPO may not receive a strong response from investors amid a report by the US-based Hindenburg Research that surfaced on January 24, which accused the Adani Group of wrongdoings.
The US-based firm, in its report, raised concerns about shares of Adani group companies having a possibility of declining from their current levels, owing to high valuations. In response, Adani Group on Sunday said the recent report by Hindenburg Research was not an attack on any specific company but a “calculated attack” on India, its growth story, and ambitions. It added the report was “nothing but a lie”.
