SpiceJet Owner Ajay Singh to Take Over NDTV, Channel Denies Report
Ajay Singh was part of the advertising team of BJP’s 2014 campaign.
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After NDTV founders Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy, as well as promoter firm RRPR Holding Pvt Ltd, faced a CBI probe for the alleged concealment of a share transaction, the NDTV is changing hands.
Ajay Singh, SpiceJet’s co-founder and owner, is set to pick up majority holding in the channel, The Indian Express reported. However, sources within the channel have denied the report, The Hindu reported. “Not even a single sentence of these reports is true,” a source said.
Singh was part of the BJP’s 2014 poll campaign, and a source confirmed to The Indian Express his share in the company.
CBI had conducted raids on the Roys on 5 June, which NDTV termed “a blatant attack on the freedom of the press.”
Ajay Singh will hold 40 percent stake in NDTV, while founders Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy will hold 20 percent, according to the source.
BSE’s data showed that NDTV’s promoter holding in June 2017 was 61.45 percent and public shareholding was 38.55 percent. Singh will also reportedly pick up NDTV’s debt of over Rs 400 crore, and the entire deal is valued at Rs 600 crore.
Rs 100 crore of the deal will also go to the Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy.
SpiceJet Denies Takeover Too
A SpiceJet official too denied that the deal was going through.
Ajay Singh had acquired SpiceJet in 2015 and turned its fate around. He also served as the Officer on Special Duty to Pramod Mahajan during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government.
He also played an active role in the launch of DD News and DD Sports. In the BJP campaign of 2014, Ajay Singh was part of the core advertising/campaign team.
He served on the board of the Delhi Transport Corporation and planned to revamp the DTC. It was under his two-and-a-half year stint that the bus fleet rose from 300 to 6,000.
Ajay Singh is an alumnus of Delhi’s St Columba’s School. He graduated from IIT Delhi and pursued an MBA from Cornell University. He also holds a bachelor’s degree from Law Faculty, University of Delhi.
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