Apple of his eye

After a four-year hiatus, ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has raised his stake in Aptech, the only investment where he holds management control. Since August this year, Jhunjhunwala has mopped up 14.63 lakh shares through bulk deals on the NSE at an average price of Rs.129 per share, to take his overall holding to 49.30% from 45.28%. The last tranche on September 7 saw the investor pick up 7.63 lakh shares at an average price of Rs.149.11 a share, cumulatively worth Rs.11.54 crore. Post the acquisition, the stock has surged 36% to Rs.175.

Interestingly, since the time that Jhunjhunwala first invested in the stock in 2005, he has not managed to cash in on his investment even as the stock hit a meteoric high of Rs.436 in 2007 before plummeting to its all-time low of Rs.65 in 2012. In fact, he has only been ramping up his holding in the Mumbai-based IT education company. It was in 2005 that Jhunjhunwala had first acquired a 10% stake for Rs.81 crore, at Rs.56 a share, from the Chennai-based Kalpathi Suresh, founder of IT training firm SSI. Close to six transactions since 2005 pegs Jhunjhunwala’s average buying price at Rs.91.37, resulting in a mark-to-market gain of 92% against the current market price of Rs.177. Adding to these gain is the cumulative dividend of Rs.30 crore that Jhunjhunwala has got since FY10.