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Six months after he pared his stake in EaseMyTrip, its chairman Nishant Pitti has pledged 9 Cr shares worth INR 94.5 Cr to Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
As per a filing with the BSE, Pitti pledged 2.54% stake in the online travel aggregator (OTA) company to the investment firm for “personal use”. The pledge was created on June 20 and represents about 13% of the 45.4 Cr shares held by Pitti.
Prior to the fresh pledge created for Motilal Oswal, Pitti had pledged 8 Cr shares of the company. Notably, last month, Pitti got the pledge on 10 Cr encumbered shares removed, following which his pledged shares declined to 8 Cr.
With the fresh addition, he has pledged 17.01 Cr shares, or a 4.8% stake, of the company to Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
It is pertinent to mention that Pitti has been on an aggressive sell-off spree for his stake in the OTA since last year. This resulted in his stake in the company reducing to 12.8% at the end of March 2025 from 28.13% a year ago.
In December last year, the cofounder sold about 5 Cr shares of EaseMyTrip at INR 15.68 apiece via a block deal to rake in INR 78.3 Cr. Subsequently, he stepped down from the position of the chief executive of the company in January.
Back then, Pitti assured EaseMyTrip investors that he wouldn’t sell more shares of the company. He said then that the “small portion” of his promoter shares were sold for “personal reasons”.
“I want to assure you this does not reflect any lack of confidence in EaseMyTrip’s bright future… To honor your trust, I have thoughtfully limited my share sale and confirm there will be no further sales from my side,” he said in a post on X in January this year.
While the “personal reasons” haven’t been disclosed by the former EaseMyTrip CEO, Pitti is currently focussing on a new venture investment initiative at the company, titled EaseMyTirp 2.0.
In an announcement on June 2, EaseMyTrip said that the “new phase of growth” would see the company focus on working capital investments, acquiring up to 49% equity in selected businesses, while ensuring that founders retain full operational control.
The company said that it will look to make strategic investments in businesses involved in domestic and international holidays, religious and spiritual tourism, student and education travel, MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions) and group travel, among other travel adjacent business segments.
In addition, EaseMyTrip 2.0 will explore adjacent verticals that complement its core travel business. These include wellness and preventive healthcare services like spas and clinics, financial products linked to travel such as EMI and “pay later” solutions.
“We want to back founders who are building exciting businesses and not replace them. EaseMyTrip 2.0 is about combining their vision with our platform to create real, lasting scale,” Pitti said in the statement.
EaseMyTrip has been on an acquisition spree for the last a year or so, acquiring stakes in businesses like charter aviation company Big Charter, medical tourism company Pflege Home Healthcare and bookings platform CheQIn. However, its stake acquisition of medical tourism Rollins International, which was announced in September 2024, fell through.
Shares of EaseMyTrip ended today’s trading session 0.10% higher at INR 10.42 apiece on the BSE.
The post EaseMyTrip’s Nishant Pitti Pledges Shares Worth INR 95 Cr For ‘Personal Use’ appeared first on Inc42 Media.
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