New Delhi, 11 March

Rakesh Gangwal, the co-founder and promoter of the country's largest airline IndiGo, on Monday sold 5.83 per cent stake in the carrier for Rs 6,785 crore through open market transactions.

The stake sale is part of Gangwal's decision to trim his shareholding, a decision announced in February 2022 after a bitter feud with co-founder Rahul Bhatia over alleged corporate governance issues.

A total of 2.25 crore shares of InterGlobe Aviation were sold in three tranches, with the price ranging from Rs 3,015.10 to Rs 3,016.36 apiece, according to bulk deal data on BSE. The shares were offloaded at a discount compared to the company's closing price of Rs 3,214.25 apiece on BSE. The scrip ended the day with a gain of 3.63 per cent while the benchmark Sensex closed in the red.

InterGlobe Aviation is the parent of no-frills carrier IndiGo, which has a domestic market share of more than 60 per cent.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) Pte acquired 21 lakh shares, amounting to a 0.5 per cent in InterGlobe Aviation, as per the bulk deal data.

The shares were purchased at an average price of Rs 3,015.10 apiece, taking the deal size to Rs 633.17 crore. Details of the other buyers could not be ascertained.

At the end of December 2023, promoters and promoter group entities held 63.13 per cent stake in InterGlobe Aviation. Gangwal had a 11.72 per cent stake while the Chinkerpoo Family Trust, whose trustees are Shobha Gangwal and JP Morgan Trust Company of Delaware, owned 13.49 per cent shareholding in InterGlobe Aviation. Bhatia and InterGlobe Enterprises owned a combined 37.92 per cent stake in the company, as per BSE data.

Since February 2022, Gangwal and his wife Shobha Gangwal have been offloading IndiGo shares. In August 2023, Shobha Gangwal sold a nearly 2.9 per cent stake in the company for a little over Rs 2,800 crore. Prior to that in February 2023, Shobha Gangwal divested a 4 per cent stake in the company for Rs 2,944 crore.

In September 2022, Rakesh Gangwal and Shobha Gangwal sold a 2.74 per cent shareholding for Rs 2,005 crore.

Amid differences with co-founder Rahul Bhatia, Gangwal, in February 2022, resigned from the board of directors of InterGlobe Aviation and had also said that he would gradually reduce his equity stake in the airline over the next five years.