Bhavish Aggarwal offloads another block of Ola Electric shares for ₹142 cr

For the second day in a row, the Ola Electric founder offloaded a block of shares, this time worth ₹142.3 crore through open market deals as part of a monetisation plan to repay a promoter-level loan

Ola Electric founder-promoter Bhavish Aggarwal on Wednesday offloaded a nearly one per cent equity stake in the company through open market transactions for ₹142.3 crore as part of a "one-time, limited monetisation of a small portion" of the promoter stake it announced on Tuesday, Moneycontrol reported.

 

In a BSE filing on Tuesday, the company said the monetisation is being undertaken to fully repay a promoter-level loan of ₹260 crore.

What did the latest share sale involve?

As per data from the National Stock Exchange, cited by Moneycontrol, Aggarwal offloaded 4.19 crore shares, or 1 per cent of Ola Electric, on Wednesday for ₹142.3 crore, with the shares sold at an average price of ₹33.96 apiece. A day earlier, he had sold 2.62 crore shares — equivalent to a 0.59 per cent stake — for ₹91.87 crore at a price of ₹34.99 per share.

 

As of now, Aggarwal has sold over 1.5 per cent stake in the company for ₹234.17 crore. 

How does this affect promoter shareholding and pledges?

The Bengaluru-based company on Tuesday said that post the transaction, the promoter group would continue to hold about 34 per cent in Ola Electric, among the highest across new-age listed companies. As of September, promoter shareholding stood at 36.78 per cent.

 

It also said the transaction is being carried out to eliminate all promoter pledges, which can introduce avoidable risk and volatility. The firm said it is part of the founder's conviction that Ola Electric should operate with zero pledge overhang, and that he should fully unwind the leverage.

How did the stock react?

The development, however, had a sharp reaction on the stock price, with shares hitting an all-time low of ₹32.90 on the BSE, falling 4.58 per cent.