IndiGo: Shobha Gangwal sells IndiGo stake for Rs 2,944 cr

Mumbai: Shobha Gangwal, a promoter of InterGlobe Aviation that runs IndiGo airline, sold 15.6 million shares totalling 3.7% equity on Thursday through block deals on the BSE. Shares were sold at an average price of ₹1,887 a share, translating into a deal worth ₹2,944 crore.

As of December 2022, promoter and promoter group entities held about 72% stake in the company that owns IndiGo Airlines.

Rakesh Gangwal, his wife Shobha Gangwal, and their family trust, all of which are part of the promoter group, held a 33.78% stake in the airline company as of December 2022. In February last year, besides stepping down from the company’s board, Rakesh Gangwal, the co-founder of India’s largest carrier, announced his decision to reduce stake in the company slowly.

The announcement came after a two-year-long bitter battle with co-promoter Rahul Bhatia, who owns 37.8%.

In September 2022, Gangwal and his wife, Shobha Gangwal, sold a 2.74% stake in the company through the open market.

The two promoters fell apart in 2019 on allegations of governance lapses resulting in an inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and arbitration in London.

The company modified the articles of association to scrap the clause that gave the promoter blocs the right of first refusal over each other’s shares. The amendment was made following an order from the London Court of International Arbitration and passed in a shareholders’ meeting last December.