Adani Group To Take Full Control Of IANS After Raising Stake To Over 99 Per Cent

NEW DELHI: Billionaire Gautam Adani’s conglomerate Adani Group is set to take complete ownership of news agency IANS India Pvt Ltd by raising its stake in the company, further expanding its media presence after acquiring NDTV.

In December 2023, Adani Group had picked up the controlling stake in IANS at 50.50 percent. Now, the conglomerate has raised its shareholding to 76 per cent with voting rights and to 99.26 per cent without voting rights, according to a regulatory filing.

The company filing further said that the cash outgo for the deal is ₹5 crore. The allotment of the shares was approved by the board of IANS at its meeting held on January 16, 2024, said Adani Group in a statement.

Adani Enterprises Ltd said in its filing, “In continuation to our earlier intimation dated December 15, 2023, we would like to inform that AMG Media Networks Ltd (AMNL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company has increased its stake in IANS India Private Limited, by subscribing to fresh shares issued by IANS.”

Adani Group had purchased the controlling stake of IANS for 50.50 percent shares for an undisclosed amount on December 15. Now, the company has an additional 25.50 per cent equity shares, taking total stake with voting rights to 76 per cent.

Apart from this, the Gautam Adani-led company acquired additional 48.76 per cent equity shares to take stake without voting rights to 99.26 per cent, according to its regulatory filings.

The filing said that IANS has been acquired by the media wing of Adani Group, which is AMG Media Networks Limited (AMNL). The acquisition is of strategic nature in the interest of AMNL,” it said.

Adani forayed into media business in March last year when it acquired Quintillion Business Media, which operates business and financial news digital media platform BQ Prime. It thereafter in December took nearly 65 per cent stake in broadcaster NDTV.