Kalanithi Maran’s Sun TV Slumps 9% On Bourses As Brother Dayanidhi’s DMK Set To Lose Power To Vijay's TVK

The stock of Chennai-headquartered Sun TV Network declined on the bourses on Monday after early trends of vote counting in Tamil Nadu showed the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) trailing behind actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and arch-rival AIADMK.

Kalanithi Maran, founder and chairman of Sun Group, is considered close to the leadership of DMK.

While the stock of Sun TV opened higher, probably because of the leading edge given to DMK in exit polls, the scrip fell as much as 9.5 percent as soon as the party trailed in counting.

The stock opened 1.3 percent higher at Rs 612.85 compared to the previous close of Rs 605 apiece.

However, the lead was lost as soon as trading started. The stock fell to Rs 547.55, which was almost 9.5 percent lower than the previous close.

According to media reports, as of 11:30 AM, actor Vijay’s TVK was leading on 111 assembly seats out of 234 seats in Tamil Nadu, while AIADMK and its allies were leading with 70 seats.

In a major jolt to the incumbent Chief Minister M K Stalin, DMK slipped to the third spot with a lead on just 54 seats, over 100 seats short of its last election’s performance.

A party would need 117 seats to claim government formation in the state. Bolstered by the unprecedented lead in the early trends, Vijay’s party would look to form the government on its own instead of coming into alliance with any party, as per reports.

Kalanithi Maran and his brother Dayanidhi Maran, who is also a member of Lok Sabha for the DMK, are grand-nephews of M Karunanidhi, the late DMK patriarch.

Apart from media and entertainment, the Sun Group is also active in sports. It owns the Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL franchise. The group was earlier associated with aviation company SpiceJet.

The group had acquired a controlling stake in SpiceJet in June 2010 but sold it back to founder Ajay Singh in January 2015 following financial losses.