Oswal group buys 14.2% in NDTV for Rs 24.24 cr

The Delhi-based Abhey Oswal Group, with interests in petrochemicals, fertilisers and entertainment, has bought a 14.2 per cent stake in New Delhi Television (NDTV) for Rs 24.24 crore.

Group company Oswal Green Tech acquired the stake from Merrill Lynch Capital Markets and Nomura Capital in a series of bulk deals at Rs 26.60 a share. Around 9.14 million shares of NDTV were bought. According to senior officials in the company, Oswal had set up Lucky Star Entertainment for his son, who had interest in music, but later expanded to the movie business making well-known flicks such as Pinjaar.

NDTV shares closed at an all-time low of Rs 25.45 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. At this level, NDTV’s market capitalisation is around Rs 164 crore.

In March, Merrill Lynch Capital Markets and Nomura Capital acquired these shares from Goldman Sachs and GS Mace Holdings at Rs 76.55 a share. However, they exited NDTV at a loss of Rs 44 crore with this sale.(Click here for table & graph)

NDTV operates three news channels — NDTV 24/7, NDTV India and NDTV Profit, and an entertainment channel, Good Times. Apart from broadcasting, it also has internet properties like ndtv.com.

In October, NDTV, along with Kasturi & Sons, publishers of The Hindu newspaper, sold the Chennai city-specific English news and current affairs channel, NDTV-Hindu, to leading Tamil daily Dina Thanthi for Rs 15 crore.

As on September, the promoters, Prannoy Roy, Radhika Roy and RRPR Holding, had 61.45 per cent in NDTV, while foreign institutional investors, mutual funds and other entities owned 19.45 per cent. Public and other non-institutional investors had the balance. For the quarter ending September, NDTV posted a loss of Rs 10.7 crore and a revenue of Rs 82.2 crore.

In the 1980s, Abhey Oswal was known as the next Ambani. He made some major acquisitions — ICI’s plant near Kolkata, Union Carbide’s in Mumbai, Jagatjit Industries’ sugar mill in Punjab. However, Oswal, having rechristened his Bindal Agro Chem Ltd as Oswal Chemicals And Fertilizers in 1995, later decided to focus on fertilisers and started getting out of other businesses such as sugar, vanaspati and rice. The group also set up the world’s largest grassroot phosphoric acid plant in Paradip, Orissa. Finally, the plant was sold to Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative.