Date:04/08/2007 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/08/04/stories/2007080452370100.htm

Back TV Today shareholders shun Reliance Cap’s open offer

Only 200 shares were tendered

No takers
Reliance Capital made an offer for purchase of 20% equity stake of TV Today.
The open offer was made at a 7% discount to the closing price of the target company.

Our Bureau

Mumbai, Aug. 3 Reliance Capital’s open offer to shareholders of TV Today Network Ltd has fetched a negligible response, leaving Reliance Capital’s stake in the media company almost unchanged at 11.93 per cent.

Only 200 shares were tendered against Reliance Capital’s offer for purchase of a maximum of 1.16 crore equity shares or 20 per cent equity stake of TV Today, according to an announcement made on the stock exchanges on Friday.

Offer Announcement

TV Today’s share price had already been over Rs 140 per share on the BSE against the open offer price of Rs 130.50 per share, at the time of announcement in April this year.

The open offer announcement itself had noted that the offer price was at a 7 per cent discount to the closing price of the target company.

“The company has strong confidence in the future prospects and growth potential of TV Today, and wishes to increase its stake beyond the threshold of 15 per cent specified under the SEBI Takeover Regulations,” Reliance Capital had said, announcing the open offer on the stock exchanges.

“Accordingly, to meet the procedural requirements under the Regulations, the company will make an open offer to facilitate the increase in shareholding beyond the aforesaid 15 per cent level. This will not result in any change in the management and/or control of TV Today.”

Media Companies

The offer opened on June 27 and closed on July 16; throughout this period the market price of TV Today was well above the offer price. Initially the offer was to have opened on June 6 and closed on June 26.

On Friday, TV Today shares closed at Rs 162.50 gaining Rs 4.65. Reliance Capital, an Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group company, had acquired 11.9 per cent stake in TV Today through open market transactions in February this year. TV Today’s stock has been rising ever since. Even as early as in December the scrip had been ruling below Rs 100.

TV Today has under its umbrella the news channels Aaj Tak and Headlines Today. The Anil Ambani group has been actively buying into media companies in the recent past. It had, again through Reliance Capital, picked up around 6 per cent stake in Global Broadcast News, which owns the news channels IBN7 and CNN-IBN. This was also done through open market transactions.

The stock of Reliance Capital closed at Rs 1,156.90 on the BSE on Friday, up 3.41 per cent.

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