IndiGo Co-Founder Rakesh Gangwal to Sell 3.4% Stake Worth ₹6,831 Crore
| 2025-05-26
Rakesh Gangwal is the co-founder of InterGlobe Aviation, the parent company of IndiGo, India’s largest airline.
IndiGo co-founder Rakesh Gangwal plans to sell a 3.4% stake in the airline for ₹6,831 crore, continuing a phased divestment following a governance dispute.
Rakesh Gangwal, co-founder of InterGlobe Aviation Ltd—the parent company of IndiGo—along with his family trust, is poised to offload approximately 3.4% of their stake in the airline through block deals on Indian stock exchanges.
The planned sale, scheduled for Tuesday, will involve up to 13.2 million shares at a floor price of ₹5,175 each, according to documents seen by Press Trust of India. This price represents a discount of about 4.5% from IndiGo's closing price of ₹5,420 on Monday.
The total value of the stake being sold is estimated at ₹6,831 crore, or approximately USD 803 million. The transaction will be entirely secondary in nature, with no new shares being issued by the airline.
The shares are being sold jointly by Rakesh Gangwal and the Chinkerpoo Family Trust, which is managed by Shobha Gangwal and JP Morgan Trust Company of Delaware. The combined ownership of Gangwal and his family trust in IndiGo currently stands at around 13.5%.
The block deals are being managed by investment banking firms Goldman Sachs (India) Securities, Morgan Stanley India Company, and JP Morgan India, which have been appointed as placement agents.
Under the terms of the sale, a 150-day lock-up period will apply to Gangwal, the family trust, and their immediate relatives. However, the agreement allows for an exception: shares worth at least USD 300 million may be transferred to a single investor or investor group through a negotiated deal, subject to pricing and lock-up conditions.
Background to the Divestment:
Gangwal’s divestment is the latest in a series of share sales following his decision in early 2022 to gradually exit the company. His announcement came after a protracted public dispute with co-founder Rahul Bhatia over issues of corporate governance.
The feud, which began in 2019, led to arbitration proceedings in the London Court of International Arbitration. In September 2021, the tribunal delivered its ruling, following which IndiGo held an extraordinary general meeting in December that year. Shareholders approved a key amendment to the Articles of Association, removing a clause that had granted promoters the right of first refusal in share sales.
This cleared the way for Gangwal to begin selling his stake.
Since then, multiple divestments have taken place. In August 2024, the Gangwal family trust sold a 5.24% stake for ₹9,549 crore. Earlier sales included a 2.74% stake in September 2022 for ₹2,005 crore, and a 4% stake in February 2023 by Shobha Gangwal for ₹2,944 crore.
In total, Gangwal and related entities have sold several tranches of shares worth tens of thousands of crore rupees over the past three years.
Context:
InterGlobe Aviation, which operates IndiGo, was founded in 2006 by Rakesh Gangwal and Rahul Bhatia. The airline has since become the largest carrier in India by market share and fleet size, operating both domestic and international routes.
Despite internal conflicts among its promoters, IndiGo has maintained its position as a dominant player in the Indian aviation sector, navigating the turbulence of the COVID-19 pandemic and rising competition.
Gangwal’s exit, once completed, will mark a significant shift in the airline’s ownership structure, ending nearly two decades of co-promoter involvement in its operations.
Analysts say the sale reflects both a personal transition for Gangwal and a broader maturity in the Indian aviation sector, where promoter exits and institutional investments are becoming increasingly common.
The planned sale, scheduled for Tuesday, will involve up to 13.2 million shares at a floor price of ₹5,175 each, according to documents seen by Press Trust of India. This price represents a discount of about 4.5% from IndiGo's closing price of ₹5,420 on Monday.
The total value of the stake being sold is estimated at ₹6,831 crore, or approximately USD 803 million. The transaction will be entirely secondary in nature, with no new shares being issued by the airline.
The shares are being sold jointly by Rakesh Gangwal and the Chinkerpoo Family Trust, which is managed by Shobha Gangwal and JP Morgan Trust Company of Delaware. The combined ownership of Gangwal and his family trust in IndiGo currently stands at around 13.5%.
The block deals are being managed by investment banking firms Goldman Sachs (India) Securities, Morgan Stanley India Company, and JP Morgan India, which have been appointed as placement agents.
Under the terms of the sale, a 150-day lock-up period will apply to Gangwal, the family trust, and their immediate relatives. However, the agreement allows for an exception: shares worth at least USD 300 million may be transferred to a single investor or investor group through a negotiated deal, subject to pricing and lock-up conditions.
Background to the Divestment:
Gangwal’s divestment is the latest in a series of share sales following his decision in early 2022 to gradually exit the company. His announcement came after a protracted public dispute with co-founder Rahul Bhatia over issues of corporate governance.
The feud, which began in 2019, led to arbitration proceedings in the London Court of International Arbitration. In September 2021, the tribunal delivered its ruling, following which IndiGo held an extraordinary general meeting in December that year. Shareholders approved a key amendment to the Articles of Association, removing a clause that had granted promoters the right of first refusal in share sales.
This cleared the way for Gangwal to begin selling his stake.
Since then, multiple divestments have taken place. In August 2024, the Gangwal family trust sold a 5.24% stake for ₹9,549 crore. Earlier sales included a 2.74% stake in September 2022 for ₹2,005 crore, and a 4% stake in February 2023 by Shobha Gangwal for ₹2,944 crore.
In total, Gangwal and related entities have sold several tranches of shares worth tens of thousands of crore rupees over the past three years.
Context:
InterGlobe Aviation, which operates IndiGo, was founded in 2006 by Rakesh Gangwal and Rahul Bhatia. The airline has since become the largest carrier in India by market share and fleet size, operating both domestic and international routes.
Despite internal conflicts among its promoters, IndiGo has maintained its position as a dominant player in the Indian aviation sector, navigating the turbulence of the COVID-19 pandemic and rising competition.
Gangwal’s exit, once completed, will mark a significant shift in the airline’s ownership structure, ending nearly two decades of co-promoter involvement in its operations.
Analysts say the sale reflects both a personal transition for Gangwal and a broader maturity in the Indian aviation sector, where promoter exits and institutional investments are becoming increasingly common.
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