Bajaj Consumer shares tank as promoters sell 22%

The company’s share price is at a seven-year low, which led the promoter entity to sell shares before the lenders invoked the pledged shares.

The promoter group of Bajaj Consumer Care on Tuesday sold 3.24 crore shares (22% of outstanding shares) of the firm to raise `629 crore to repay debt. The promoter entities had pledged shares of 62.83% of their holding (as of September 2019).

The share sale happened via a bunch of bulk deals on the BSE, at an average price of `194.05 per share. Edelweiss was the sole banker for the transaction.

The company’s share price is at a seven-year low, which led the promoter entity to sell shares before the lenders invoked the pledged shares.

The sudden spurt in volume took the shares to a seven-year low of `195.55 on BSE. While Bajaj Resources sold 3.23 crore shares at an average price of Rs 194.56 per share, Millennium Stock Broking sold another 1.85 lakh shares, bulk deals data on BSE showed. While HDFC MF bought shares worth `151 crore, Aditya Birla Sun Life MF picked up shares worth `50.7 crore.

Natwest Bank as trustee of The Jupiter India Fund and Steinberg India Emerging Opportunities Fund bought stock worth about Rs 45 crore each. Post deal, the promoter holding will come down to 38%.