Sebi flags insider trading in Adani’s NDTV open offer; notices to Pranav Adani, kin

New Delhi: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has alleged that Pranav Adani shared price-sensitive information linked to the Adani Group’s open offer for NDTV, in a case that also names his brothers-in-law Kunal and Nrupal Shah and father-in-law Dhanpal Shah, showed a document reviewed by ET.

The allegations relate to August 2022, when the broadcaster was being taken over by the Adani Group. 

Pranav Adani is a director of Adani Enterprises.

Sebi has served show-cause notices to Pranav Adani, Kunal Shah, Nrupal Shah and Dhanpal Shah. 

In its notice issued on October 15, 2025, Sebi alleged that calls were exchanged among Kunal, Nrupal and Dhanpal Shah with Pranav Adani, indicating the frequency of communication between the individuals during the UPSI (unpublished price-sensitive information) period.

Last week, Sebi dropped an insider trading case against Pranav Adani and his brothers-in-law, Nrupal and Kunal Shah, citing a lack of evidence. 

In that matter, Sebi had alleged that Pranav Adani shared price-sensitive information about Adani Green Energy’s acquisition of SoftBank-backed SB Energy Holdings with his relatives before the deal was announced.

In the NDTV matter, Sebi’s notice refers to events around the open offer announcement in August 2022. 

On August 23, 2022, JM Financial, manager of the open offer, informed stock exchanges after market hours about a public announcement relating to an open offer for NDTV.

The announcement said Vishvapradhan Commercial, along with persons acting in concert, including AMG Media Networks and Adani Enterprises, would acquire up to 26 per cent of NDTV’s share capital from public shareholders.

The open offer involved the purchase of 16.76 million shares at Rs 294 apiece, valuing the transaction at Rs 492.81 crore. 

Sebi said the announcement was made after the close of trading, qualifying it as UPSI until it was disseminated through the exchanges.

When trading resumed on August 24, 2022, NDTV’s shares jumped, opening about 2.5 per cent higher than the previous close and ending the day nearly 5 per cent higher on the National Stock Exchange.

“The corporate announcement of August 23, 2022, is UPSI,” Sebi said in its notice, adding that the information “materially affected the price of the scrip of NDTV upon coming into the public domain.”

Sebi said it subsequently launched an investigation to examine whether certain entities traded NDTV shares while in possession of price-sensitive information. 

The investigation period was between May 2, 2022 and September 15, 2022, covering the pre-UPSI, UPSI and post-announcement phases.

According to Sebi’s findings cited in the notice, Kunal Shah allegedly bought NDTV shares on multiple occasions during the UPSI period, including purchases made in the weeks and days leading up to the announcement.