New Delhi, Sep 23 (PTI): Shares of NDTV jumped almost 5 per cent today amid reports that SpiceJet's Ajay Singh is set to take control of the media firm even as the company denied any such move.
Following the buzz, shares of the company rose by 4.94 per cent to Rs 53.10 -- its upper circuit limit -- on BSE.
On NSE, the stock gained 4.96 per cent to Rs 52.85 -- its highest trading permissible limit for the day.
SpiceJet stock, however, fell by 1.51 percent to close the day at Rs 143.35 on BSE. Intra-day, it lost 2.67 per cent to Rs 141.65.
According to reports, Singh is set to take a substantial stake in NDTV.
In a filing to the BSE, NDTV said: "We wish to inform you that the promoters of the company have not entered into any agreement for sale of their stake in the company to any person".
It came in response to a clarification sought by BSE on reports suggesting stake purchase by Singh in the company.
"The company is mindful of its obligations under clause 30 of the listing regulations and shall promptly intimate you of any event required which is required to be disclosed under the said regulations," NDTV said in the filing.
When contacted, a SpiceJet spokesperson said the reports are "absolutely false and baseless".
Singh, the co-founder and chairman of SpiceJet, has been instrumental in turning around the fortunes of the no-frills airline.
Ajay Singh is also infamous for coining the phrase ‘Abki baar, Modi sarkar’, reportedly during a late night conference call with Arun Jaitley, Piyush Goyal and Sudhanshu Trivedi, which would later become the party's campaign slogan.
His friendship with the late senior BJP leader Pramod Mahajan is well known. Ajay Singh was officer on special duty when Mahajan was the then information and broadcasting minister. Singh later followed Mahajan to the telecom ministry as well.
NDTV is currently being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation for alleged irregularities in a share transaction. The CBI in June had searched the houses of the channel owners Prannoy and Radhika Roy for allegedly causing financial losses worth Rs 48 crore to ICICI Bank in connection with that transaction.
The raids were widely seen as an attempt to silence critics of the government.