Lupin shares fall as Jhunjhunwala cuts stake

Shares of drug-maker Lupin Ltd fell sharply on the bourses today after the company disclosed that renowned investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has lowered his stake in the company by more than half through the sale of stock currently worth over Rs 300 crore.

In a corporate disclosure to the stock exchanges on its latest shareholding pattern, Lupin disclosed that the stake held by Jhunjhunwala and his wife, Rekha Jhunjhunwala, stood at 1.73% as of June 30, 2011.

This was down from their 3.22% holding in the company at the end of the previous quarter, ended March 31.

Shares of the company reacted sharply to the disclosure, falling by 2.6% to Rs 466.50 on the Bombay Stock Exchange at 1330 hours.

As per the shareholding disclosure, Jhunjhunwala's holding in Lupin was reduced by 66.6 lakh shares, which are currently worth over Rs 300 crore, during the first quarter of the current fiscal.

It could not be ascertained the price at which the shares were sold by Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, who is known to be among the most bullish investors in the Indian stock market and holds shares of numerous companies with a long-term perspective.

However, Lupin saw an increase in FII holding from 22.06% to 23.64% during the March-June quarter, while the holding of domestic institutional investors fell from 19.97% to 19.13%.

Non-institutional investors also pared their holding in the company from 10.99% to 10.27%.