SpiceJet promoter pledges 14.84 per cent shares

MUMBAI: Low-cost carrier SpiceJet today said one of its promoters KAL Airways has pledged 14.84 per cent shares of its stake.

KAL Airways, a private firm owned by media baron and Sun TV chief Kalanithi Maran, has pledged its over 6.01 crore shares, or 14.84 per cent of its stake in the SpiceJet, the airline said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Of this, 3.12 crore shares were pledged on April 1, the filing said, but it did not give the details of with whom the shares had been pledged.

The airline officials could not be contacted on the issue.

In June, 2010 the Sun TV Chief had clinched a deal to acquire a 37.7 per cent stake in the airline for about Rs 750 crore from American investor Wilbur Ross, his investment companies and the Kansagara family-promoted Royal Holding Services Ltd.

Maran currently holds a 38.66 per cent stake in the airline, together with his firm -- KAL Airways -- and had taken over as the Chairman of the company in last November, following the completion of his acquisition of a majority stake in the company.

Shares of SpiceJet today closed at Rs 39.40 on the BSE, up 1.68 per cent from its previous close.