NDTV shares surge 20% as Sebi orders open offer

Shares of NDTV today surged 20 per cent to hit its upper circuit limit at Rs 39 after Sebi ordered Vishvapradhan Commercial to make an open offer.

Regulator Sebi yesterday ordered a little-known entity, Vishvapradhan Commercial, to make an open offer for NDTV for indirectly acquiring control of up to 52 per cent stake through a convertible loan of Rs 350 crore in 2009 'sourced' from a subsidiary of Reliance Industries.

Stock of the company opened on a positive note at Rs 36, then soared further to Rs 39, up 20 per cent from its previous closing price on BSE.

Similar movement was seen on NSE, where the stock opened at Rs 36.10, then gained further ground to touch Rs 38.80, up 19.94 per cent over its last close.

Market analysts said the Bombay High Court order also acted as a trigger for the stock.

The Bombay High Court yesterday directed the Reserve Bank of India to consider the compounding applications filed by NDTV in a case of alleged violation of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

A bench of justices S C Dharmadhikari and Bharati Dangre set aside objections raised to the compounding proceedings by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which had earlier flagged the alleged FEMA violations and issued show-cause notices to NDTV in 2015.