IndiGo shareholders approve removal of first-refusal clause from Articles of Association

IndiGo shareholders on Thursday approved a special resolution to remove the clause, which gave its promoters, Rakesh Gangwal and Rahul Bhatia, the power of right of first refusal (RoFR) when one of them wanted to sell his shares, from the Articles of Association (AoA) of the airline.

The passage of special resolution at extraordinary general meeting held on Thursday is likely to pave the way for resolution of dispute, which has been going on since 2019, between the two promoters.

Bhatia and his related entities own around 38 per cent in InterGlobe Aviation, which is the holding company of IndiGo Airline. Gangwal and his related entities own around 37 per cent in this company.

The feud between the two promoters came into public domain after Gangwal had written to market regulator Sebi in July 2019 and sought its intervention to address the alleged corporate governance lapses at the company, charges that have been rejected by the Bhatia group.

In a notice to BSE, InterGlobe Aviation stated: “This is to inform you that the members of the company at the extraordinary general meeting held on December 30, 2021, have approved the special resolution for amendment to the AoA of the company by deletion of Articles 1.6 to 1.15 (Transfer of Equity Shares), 1.16 to 1.20 (Acquisition of Shares) and 2A (Other provisions on Equity Shares), with requisite majority.” Around 99.99 per cent shareholders voted in favour of the resolution, as per the notice.

In 2019, both the promoters had moved to London Court of International Arbitration to resolve their disputes.

The court had passed its order on September 23 this year, following which the EGM was called to amend the company’s AoA.