Rakesh Gangwal, the billionaire co-founder of India’s largest airline IndiGo, sold a 5.24% stake in InterGlobe Aviation on Thursday for Rs 9,549 crore. More than 2.02 crore shares of InterGlobe Aviation, the parent company of IndiGo, were sold by Gangwal’s Chinkerpoo Family Trust in three tranches at a price range of Rs 4,714.95-4,715.89 per share.
Bulk deal data on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) showed that Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) Pte acquired 28.54 lakh shares, representing a 0.74% stake in InterGlobe Aviation, at an average price of Rs 4,714.90 per share. The total value of this transaction was Rs 1,345.63 crore.
The share sale is part of Gangwal's decision in February 2022 to trim his shareholding after a public feud with co-founder Rahul Bhatia over alleged corporate governance issues.
As of the end of the June quarter, the Gangwal-backed promoter group held a 19.38% stake in InterGlobe Aviation, including Rakesh Gangwal's personal stake of 5.89%. Following Thursday’s stake sale, the Gangwals' holding in the airline has come down to little over 14%.
Bhatia and his InterGlobe Enterprises owned a combined 35.91% stake in the company at the end of June quarter.
This is the fifth time in the past two years when Gangwal has reduced his stake in the airline. The fresh stake sale by Gangwal comes as IndiGo shares have been in high demand on the exchanges.
The Gangwals in March had sold a 5.8% stake which at that time had fetched Rs 6,785 crore.
The Gangwal family, after ending a long dispute with Bhatia last year, sold a 2.75% stake in the airline in September 2022 for about Rs 2,000 crore. Then they sold 4.17% stake worth Rs 2,900 crore in February 2023. Gangwal had resigned from IndiGo's board in February 2022 and announced that he would cut his stake in the airline over five years.
