Grapevine: Warburg pledges IDFC First Bank stake; IndiGo founders' rift far from over

By Ankit Agarwal

  • 06 Aug 2019
Credit: Thinkstock

Global private equity giant Warburg Pincus has pledged its entire 9.86% stake in private-sector lender IDFC First Bank Ltd to raise funds, a media report said.

Citing two people aware of the development, Mint said Warburg pledged the shares with Citigroup, Barclays and Standard Chartered.

Warburg has mobilised around $150 million by pledging the stake and will use the money to return capital to its limited partners, or investors, the report said.

The PE firm had got the stake in the bank when non-bank lender Capital First merged with IDFC Bank in 2018. Warburg owned a stake in Capital First, which it had acquired in 2012.

Previously, Warburg had sold a 25% stake in Capital First in May 2017 to several global and domestic investors, including Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte. Ltd. 

Meanwhile, Rakesh Gangwal, co-founder of budget carrier IndiGo, has refuted reports of a truce between him and co-founder Rahul Bhatia.

The Economic Times reported that Gangwal wrote a strongly worded letter to the board of InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, which operates IndiGo, saying that the board must pass a resolution which prevents Bhatia from getting more powers. 

Gangwal also wanted the board to put in a place a new policy on related-party transactions, the report said.

The rift between Bhatia and Gangwal came out in the open last month, with the latter approaching the Securities and Exchange Board of India alleging corporate governance violations at India's airline by market share.