SpiceJet CEO Sanjay Aggarwal has quit within a month of Sun TV?s Kalanithi Maran’s takeover of the airline. Aggarwal tendered his resignation after a board meeting on June 30, confirmed the airline. He is learnt to have resigned due to change in the management.
Maran?s Kal Airways acquired 38% stake in SpiceJet last month from the airline’s promoter Bhupendra (Bhulo) Kansagra and Wilbur Ross. Maran has made an open offer to buy another 20% from shareholders.
Board member Kishore Gupta will be the acting CEO, till a new appointment. He will look at the day-to-day operations and most decisions will be take by the board. ?It was obvious for Aggarwal to resign since he was hired in October 2008 at the recommendation of turnaround company Wilbur Ross, which injected $80 million (then Rs 345 crore) in July 2008 and has now exited the firm,? says a source.
Wilbur Ross at the time of appointment of Aggarwal had said, ?Of the many candidates, Sanjay was by far the most impressive. He is precisely the right person to lead the existing highly capable management team in turning SpiceJet around.?
However, in the same year, SpiceJet’s the then CEO Siddhanta Sharma also resigned to join Interglobe Enterprises Ltd run rival carrier Indigo as executive director, corporate affairs SpiceJet shares were down 3% to close at Rs 56.60 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Thursday.
The airline carried 14.28 lakh passengers between January and April this year, while it had carried 54.46 lakh passengers during 2009. The carrier won the rights to fly to international destinations in Bangladesh, Nepal and the Maldives.