Mankind Pharma shares drop 4% after 1.3 crore shares change hands in a block deal

Shares of Mankind Pharma Ltd dropped more than 4% in trade on Tuesday after a significant surge in trading volume was seen on the counter.

The Mankind Pharma stock fell as much as 4.37% to ₹2,117 apiece on BSE in morning trade on Tuesday. The pharma stock fell as much as 3.2% to a low of ₹2,141.5 on BSE in the opening trade.

The number of shares exchanging hands on BSE jumped to almost 41 times the daily average. On the other hand, the trading volume on the NSE stood at 14,386,691, significantly higher than the 20-day average volume of 3.81 lakh shares.

Data shows that around 1.3 crore shares, translating into 3.2% equity in Mankind Pharma, changed hands on Tuesday in a block deal worth ₹2,736.8 crore.

Reports say that Beige Ltd, an affiliate of private equity firm ChrysCapital, might have offloaded its stake in Mankind Pharma on Tuesday through open market transactions.

The company’s latest shareholding data showed that Beige Ltd had held a 2.99% stake in Mankind Pharma.

The offer price for the transaction was likely to be around ₹2,103-2,214 apiece, according to reports. This was at a discount of up to 5% from the stock’s previous close of ₹2,212.55.

Besides Beige, another investor Link Investment Trust might have also participated in the block deal, selling up to 58,385 shares or 0.015% stake, reports suggest.

The stake sale by investors comes after a stellar performance by Mankind Pharma shares since their listing in May 2023. The stock has jumped over 66% compared to its listing price of ₹1,300.

Mankind Pharma is the fourth largest pharma company in India in terms of domestic sales. It is the manufacturer of brands like Manforce, PregaNews, and Unwanted 72.

The company’s profit had jumped 55.5% to ₹460 crore for the December quarter. Sales, meanwhile, had risen 24.7% to ₹2,607 crore during the period.

Shares of Mankind Pharma were trading 0.67% higher at ₹2,200 apiece, on NSE at 2:40 pm.