Shobha Gangwal, wife of IndiGo co-founder Rakesh Gangwal, is set to sell a 4% stake worth ₹2,930 crore ($353 million) in the parent company – InterGlobe Aviation Ltd – through a block deal on Thursday, as per a report by Mint. InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, which operates IndiGo, was founded by businessman Rahul Bhatia and airline veteran Rakesh Gangwal in 2006.
This is Gangwal family’s second round of promoter stake sale after selling a 2.8% stake for around $250 million in September 2022. The September sale took place seven months after Rakesh resigned from the company’s board.
As on December 31, the family owned 33.78% stake in India’s biggest airline.
As per the deal, Shobha will sell 15.6 million shares after a 5.6% discount on the closing price of ₹1,986.05 on the National Stock Exchange on Wednesday. The offer floor price has been set at ₹1,875 per share.
In July 2019, the two founders fell out after Rakesh complained to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on corporate governance issues. The dispute was resolved after an extraordinary general meeting was called in December to remove restrictions on the transfer of promoter shares and modify the articles of association. On February 18, 2022, Rakesh stepped down from the airlines board and also announced that he would gradually slash his stake in the company over five years. He also added that he may consider becoming a board member in the future.
InterGlobe Aviation Ltd last week reported an eleven-fold jump in quarterly profit led by a sharp recovery in demand for air travel to near pre-Covid levels. IndiGo projects capacity in available seats per kilometre this quarter to expand to around 45% from a year earlier.
The airline has been contending with surging fuel costs and currency volatility for the past three quarters, but the pick up in demand in the domestic and international markets more than offset the fuel expenses.