On Wednesday, 30th November 2022, veteran TV journalist Ravish Kumar resigned from NDTV India. Ravish Kumar was working as Senior Executive Editor of NDTV India, the Hindi News channel of NDTV group. His move comes after the Adani Group acquired over 29% stake in NDTV by acquiring 99.5% in RRPR, the promoter firm through which promoters Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy held 29.18% in NDTV Ltd.
Reportedly, Ravish Kumar’s resignation was disclosed in an internal email addressed to NDTV employees by Suparna Singh, president of NDTV Group. She said in the email, “Ravish Kumar has resigned from NDTV and the Company has agreed to his request for his resignation to be effective immediately.”
She added, “Few journalists have impacted people as much as Ravish. This reflects in the immense feedback about him; in the crowds, he draws everywhere; in the prestigious awards and recognition, he has received, within India and internationally; and in his daily reports, which champion the rights and needs of those who are under-served.”
“Ravish has been an integral part of NDTV for decades: his contribution has been immense, and we know he will be successful as he embarks on a new beginning,” the mail further said.
Ravish Kumar has been working with NDTV for over 15 years, and currently hosts the prime-time show on weekdays. Ravish Kumar hosted many shows on this channel including the channel’s flagship weekday show Hum Log, Ravish ki Report, Des Ki Baat, and Prime Time.
Kumar’s resignation comes a day after Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy resigned from the board of directors of RRPR Holding Private Limited. They had resigned a day after 99.5% of the equity of RRPR Holding was transferred to Vishvapradhan Commercial Vishvapradhan Commercial private limited (VCPL) owned by the Adani group.
Ravish Kumar, who is active on social media, has not made comments on his resignation so far. It will be interesting to see whether Ravish Kumar joins a different news channel in the coming days or starts his online venture, like several former NDTV journalists have done.
In August this year, Adani Group announced that it had acquired 29.18% stake in NDTV indirectly. The transaction involved Vishvapradhan Commercial Pvt Ltd, owned by Adani Group, converting warrants of RRPR Holding Private Limited (RRPR) into equity. VCPL held warrants of RRPR shares against an unsecured loan given to the Roys, and as they could not repay the loan, the company decided to execute the warrants, which gave them 99.5% stake in RRPR. As RRPR owns 29.18% stake in NDTV, now these shares have gone to VCPL, which is owned by Adani Group company AMG Media Network Ltd (AMNL).
After acquiring the stake in NDTV, VCPL has now made an open offer to purchase a further 26% shares of NDTV from shareholders, as mandated by rules. It is notable that even after selling the 29.18% stake in NDTV through RRPR, Prannoy Roy still holds 32% NDTV shares in a personal capacity. VCPL has made the open offer at Rs 294 per share, well below the current market price, which closed at Rs 446 today.
