InterGlobe Aviation Shares Slip Over 4% After Rakesh Gangwal Steps Down

Shares of InterGlobe Aviation, which runs IndiGo airlines, fell nearly 4.5 per cent in early trade on Monday after Rakesh Gangwal, co-founder of the carrier, resigned from the airline's board.

Gangwal announced plans to sell his holdings over about five years.

The IndiGo stock fell 4.46 per cent to Rs 2,025.45 on the BSE while on NSE, it crashed as much as 4.32 per cent to Rs 2,025.20 per share.

On Friday, IndiGo co-promoter Rakesh Gangwal resigned from the board of directors of InterGlobe Aviation where he served as a non-executive, non-independent director.

Gangwal’s resignation comes around two weeks after other promoter Rahul Bhatia took charge as the company’s managing director.

The development came a month after a change in articles of association allowed one partner to leave without another exercising the right of first refusal.

In a letter to the IndiGo board, Gangwal said he intends to gradually reduce his stake in InterGlobe "over the next five years."

Gangwal's resignation came just a little over a month after he and the airline's other co-founder Rahul Bhatia called an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on December 30 to scrap a clause in the company’s articles of association (AoA), which gives the two owners the right of first refusal over the acquisition of each other’s shares.

This would allow either side to sell or transfer shares to a third party without giving each other a notice. 

Gangwal had been locked in a battle over the running of the airline with Bhatia.

IndiGo is India's biggest airline with a 53.5 per cent market share in October 2021. Bhatia and his group companies control about 38 per cent of InterGlobe, while Gangwal and affiliates own around 37 per cent.