Just Dial stock rally helps Big B's holding grow to Rs 10 cr

Share price of the company has zoomed from Rs 612 on debut to Rs 1,604 apiece now

A sharp rally in shares of Just Dial has helped Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan's investment in this local search engine to more than double in just about seven months to Rs 10 crore.

The value of shares held by Bachchan in Just Dial has shot up from Rs 3.83 crore on the day of the company's listing on June 5, 2013, to Rs 10 crore now -- marking a gain of about 161 per cent in this period.

Within seven months of entering the capital market, the share price of the company has zoomed from Rs 611.45 on debut to Rs 1,603.5 apiece now, as per its last trading value on January 3, when the stock also touched an all-time high of Rs 1,648.

Just Dial had signed up Bachchan as its brand ambassador in December 2010 for a period of three years.

According to a disclosure by the company in its IPO prospectus, Bachchan was given 62,794 shares at a price of Rs 10 each in 2011.

Originally, Bachchan's 62,794 shares were valued at Rs 6.27 lakh. The value of these shares spurted to Rs 3.83 crore on the debut day itself, as per its listing day price of Rs 611.45 each. Now, these shares are worth about Rs 10.06 crore.

Just Dial, which listed on the stock exchanges in June 2013, was among the few new firms that have been successful on the Dalal Street last year. Many others are trading below their IPO issue price.

The company's stock has outperformed BSE's benchmark Sensex that rose by around seven per cent during the period.

Founded by V S S Mani, the company started offering local search services in 1996 under the Just Dial brand. Besides, the company's Rs 950-crore IPO was the biggest issue of 2013.