BackIndiGo co-founder Rakesh Gangwal’s wife to sell stake worth ₹2,930 crore in block deal
This is the second instance of a share sale by the Gangwal family in InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, which operates IndiGo, after selling a 2.8% stake in the airline for approximately $250 million in September
PremiumMUMBAI : Shobha Gangwal, wife of IndiGo co-founder Rakesh Gangwal, is set to sell a 4% stake in India’s largest airline, worth $353 million, through a block deal scheduled for Thursday, according to deal terms reviewed by Mint.
This is the second instance of a share sale by the Gangwal family in InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, which operates IndiGo, after selling a 2.8% stake in the airline for approximately $250 million in September. Gangwal family owned a 33.78% stake in the airline as of 31 December, stock exchange data showed.
According to the deal terms, Shobha Gangwal will sell 15.6 million shares, representing a 4% stake in the company, at a floor price of ₹1,875 per share. The price is at a 5.6% discount to the closing price of ₹1,986.05 on NSE on Wednesday.
The sale will fetch the Gangwal family ₹2,930 crore ($353 million) at the floor price.
InterGlobe Aviation was founded by businessman Rahul Bhatia and airline veteran Gangwal in 2006. A dispute between the two founders became public in July 2019 when Gangwal complained to the markets regulator regarding issues related to corporate governance and related-party transactions at IndiGo. The two promoters had also approached the London Court of Arbitration to resolve the dispute, where the final award came on 23 September 2021. The court had given a period of 90 days to enforce the order. Although the details of the award have not been made public, it is believed to have favoured Gangwal.
The feud finally ended when the two promoters convened an extraordinary general meeting in December to remove restrictions on the transfer of promoter shares and amend the articles of association.
The resolution was passed and thereby cleared the path for the promoters to dilute their stake. Within two months, Gangwal announced his resignation from the IndiGo board on 18 February 2022. He had further announced that he would “slowly" reduce his equity stake in the airline over more than five years to diversify his holdings.
“While new investors should benefit from the potential future growth in the company’s share price, a gradual reduction of my stake should also allow me to benefit from some of the upside. Like any plan, future events may impact my current thinking," Gangwal said on 18 February 2022, adding that he shall consider participating as a board member again in the future.
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