Laurus Labs falls 5% as promoters sell 1.3% stake in company

Laurus Labs said the significant part of the above amount shall be utilized to release the pledge on their equity shares of the company

Shares of Laurus Labs were trading 5 per cent lower at Rs 349 on the BSE in intra-day trade on Friday, down 9 per cent from Thursday’s high, after the promoters of the firm sold 1.3 per cent stake in the company for Rs 258 crore via the open market to release pledged shares.

“Dr Satyanarayana Chava, founder promoter, CEO & ED, sold 5.2 million equity shares of the company in the stock market at an average price of Rs 368.59, per share, aggregating to Rs 191.67 crore,” Laurus Labs said in a press release.

The company further said, Nagarani Chava, one of the promoters of the company sold 1.8 million equity shares at an average price of Rs 366.91 per share at an aggregate value of Rs 66.04 crore.

Dr Satyanarayana Chava and Nagarani Chava together sold 7 million equity shares or 1.3 per cent of the paid-up capital of the company. The names of the buyers were not ascertained immediately.

It may be recalled that the above promoters had purchased around 3 per cent of the then paid-up capital of the company in the year 2018, Lauras Labs said.

It added that the significant part of the above amount shall be utilised to release the pledge on the equity shares of the company. As of December 31, 2020, the promoters had pledged 15.76 per cent of the total holdings of 28.76 per cent stake in the company, the shareholding pattern shows.

Laurus Labs is a leading research & development-driven and fully integrated pharmaceutical company in India.