Billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and his wife Rekha Jhunjhunwala have fully exited their holding in Intellect Design Arena Ltd, a Chennai-based fin-tech company catering to banking, insurance and other financial services verticals.
Jhunjhunwala on Tuesday sold 4.25 million shares, or his 4.2% stake in the company, showed stock-exchange disclosures. Tuesday’s sale is in addition to the 1.75 million shares—1.73% stake—that the marquee investor sold from 15 December 2016 to 13 February.
Although the disclosures didn't reveal the sale value, a back-of-the-envelope calculation indicates that Tuesday’s sale may have fetched Jhunjhunwala Rs 53.08 crore ($7.98 million), excluding transaction tariffs, costs and other statutory levies, based on the weighted average price prevailing that day.
Shares of Intellect Design Arena recovered 2.34%, or Rs 2.60, on the BSE on Thursday to close at Rs 113.90 apiece. On Wednesday, the Street had reacted negatively to Jhunjhunwala’s exit, with the stock crashing nearly 10% from Tuesday’s close price.
Jhunjhunwala first invested in Intellect over two years ago. In the second quarter of FY16, the Big Bull, as the billionaire investor is informally known, upped his stake in the company by 2.23% to 5.97%. Around the same time, the Jhunjhunwalas also raised their holding in Intellect’s parent firm, Polaris Consulting, to 5% from 4.74%.
Jhunjhunwalas' portfolio
Excluding the stake in Intellect, Jhunjhunwalas’ listed companies' portfolio is worth Rs 6,876 crore ($1,026 million) at current market rates, according to Capitaline data. The couple also holds stakes in privately-held companies.
The duo collectively own 8.5% stake in Titan Company Ltd and 1.84% in pharmaceutical giant Lupin Ltd, besides holding a sizeable chunk in companies like Aurobindo Pharma, rating agency CRISIL Ltd, Delta Corp Ltd, Dewan Housing Finance Corp Ltd, Federal Bank Ltd, Karur Vysya Bank Ltd and Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd, apart from three dozen other listed companies.
The ace stock market investor increased his stake in casino and hotel operator Delta Corp Ltd to over 10% in November 2016. Jhunjhunwala had to shell out about Rs 13.3 crore ($2 million then) for the stake buy, data showed.
In December 2016, Jhunjhunwala acquired a 12.74% stake in Mumbai-based apparel manufacturing firm Mandhana Retail Ventures Ltd (MVRL) following its demerger from Mandhana Industries Ltd (MIL). Jhunjhunwala spent an estimated Rs 64 crore ($9.7 million) to buy MVRL shares.
Jhunjhunwala ranked 53rd on the list of India’s 100 richest people in 2016, according to an annual survey by Forbes. His total net worth is estimated at $2.2 billion.
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