Asian Paints scion Malav Dani to sell shares worth ₹500 crore

Malav Dani, son of paints tycoon Ashwin Dani, will off-load shares worth ₹500 crore on the stock exchanges between May 2021 and April 2022, according to statutory filings.

The Dani family is among the key promoter families of India’s largest paints manufacturer Asian Paints, which has a current market-capitalisation of over ₹2.66-lakh crore or $36 billion.

Malav holds 5.88 per cent stake in the company through his private investment arm, Sattava Holding and Trading. That stake is worth more than ₹15,000 crore or nearly $2 billion at the current price of ₹2,775 per share. In just nine months, Asian Paints share has seen 100 per cent appreciation from a low of ₹1,431 in March.

Rare sale

Analysts tracking Asian Paints say the promoters have rarely sold their shares in the open market ever since they thwarted a takeover battle by British chemicals major ICI Plc in 1997. Malav, a non-executive director of Asian Paints, is the younger brother of Jalaj Dani, who was with the company for 18 years and remained its face till 2017.

The near 53 per cent promoter category shareholding in Asian Paints is dominated by three families. In this, the Dani family owns around 25 per cent stake. In May 2020, it was reported that the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance group would be selling its 4.9 per cent stake in Asian Paints.

But, per the September 2020 filing of Asian Paints, which is the latest available on record, the Reliance group still held its entire stake through Teesta Retail. Reliance is among the public shareholders and not in the promoter category.

Malav is also the MD of another BSE-listed plastic and packaging company, Hitech Corporation. In all, he is on the board of 12 companies, mainly linked to the Dani family.