SpiceJet shares surge over 17% as Rakesh Jhunjunwala picks up stake

Shares of SpiceJet surged over 17 percent today after ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s Rare Enterprises picked up 75 lakh shares of the company for more than Rs 13 crore through open market.

Spicejet’s stock zoomed 17.32 percent to Rs 21.40 on the BSE. Amid the no frills carrier facing tough business conditions, Rare Enterprises on Friday picked up 75 lakh shares of SpiceJet for more than Rs 13 crore through the open market route.

The share purchase comes days after SpiceJet saying that a few parties have evinced interest in making investments in the carrier. According to the bulk deal details on the BSE, based on the total number of Spicejet shares at the end of September quarter, more than 53.5 crore, the 75 lakh shares bought byRare would amount to about 1.4 percent stake.

More from Corporate

Maha: Court orders Rs 30L compensation for parents after youth dies in road accident Ashleigh Barty comes from set down to beat Coco Gauff in Australian Open lead-up

The shares were bought for an average price of Rs 17.88 apiece, valuing the transaction size at Rs 13.41 crore. The sellers of the Spicejet shares could not be ascertained.

This is not the first time Jhunjhunwala has bought shares in Spicejet. In July 2012, Jhunjhunwala’s firm RARE Enterprises bought 25 lakh shares at an average price of Rs 30.77. This was followed by another purchase of 25 lakh shares in May 2013, this time by Jhunjhunwala’s wife Rekha, at Rs 38.94 per share. It is not clear if RARE and Rekha are still holding on their earlier purchases of 25 lakh shares each since the shareholding pattern on the exchanges does not give details about investors holding less than 1 percent in the company.

With inputs from PTI