Wizz Air PLC (LON:WIZZ) saw its shares lose ground this morning on news private equity firm Indigo Partners is selling its 18.7% stake in the eastern European budget airline.
In a statement, Wizz said Indigo has sold an aggregate of 10.7mln ordinary shares in the company by way of an accelerated bookbuild to institutional investors at a price of 2,320p each, raising gross proceeds of approximately £249mln.
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Wizz shares floated on the London stock market in February 2015 at an initial offer price of 1,150p per share, and have more than doubled since then.
In early morning trading, the FTSE 250-listed firm’s shares were 6.6%, or 161p lower at 2,264p.
Phoenix-based Indigo Partners, whose investments have also included Mexico's Volaris, Frontier Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Tiger Airways, first invested in Wizz back in 2004.
The private equity firm will own no ordinary shares in the airline after the placing but will still hold 44.8mln convertible shares and convertible notes, which if fully converted would entitle them to an additional 24.2mln new ordinary shares in Wizz.