IndiGo co-founder looks to sell 4% stake
IndiGo co-founder Rakesh Gangwal is looking to raise over ₹3,730 crore by paring down his stake in the airline via block trade scheduled for Wednesday.
Gangwal has offered around 15.6 million shares for sale equal to 4 per cent stake in the airline at a floor price of ₹2,400 per share.
The offer price is 5.8 per cent discount to InterGlobe Aviation’s Monday’s closing price.
Third share sale
This will be Gangwal’s third such share sale since last year. Currently, Gangwal holds 29.72 per cent stake in the airline and his shareholding is valued at over ₹29,000 crore as per current market price.
Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley are managing the sale.
“We hope to see a good response for the block trade,” said a source in the know. The airline, which commands a domestic market share of over 63 per cent, reported its highest-ever quarterly profit of ₹3,191 crore in June-end quarter.
businesline emailed and texted Gangwal for a comment but did not get an immediate response.
Gangwal co-founded IndiGo with Rahul Bhatia in 2006 but fell out following a dispute over corporate governance issues.
The differences between the promoters became public in July 2019 when Gangwal wrote to the Securities and Exchange Board of India seeking its intervention to address corporate governance issues in the company. Bhatia rejected the allegations and both sides initiated arbitration to resolve the dispute. The company’s articles of association were amended in December 2021 allowing either of the promoters to sell shares without giving a right of first refusal notice to the other.
Share sale plan
Gangwal continues to be a co-promoter but resigned as a company director last February. Back then he had announced intent to reduce stake in the airline over five years.
Last September Gangwal and his wife Shobha sold 2.74 per cent stake in InterGlobe Aviation mopping up ₹2004 crore. This was followed up by another round of share sale in February when family sold 4 per cent shares for ₹2,900 crore.