Promoters cash in on rally, offload shares worth ₹13,000 crore in August block deals

Five stocks saw large block trades worth more than ₹6,900 crore on August 26, even as the broader market barely moved.
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Promoters have been taking advantage of the recent market rally to offload shares through bulk and block deals, with August shaping up as one of the more active months for such transactions. Five stocks saw large block trades worth more than ₹6,900 crore on August 26, even as the broader market barely moved, the Sensex ended the day down 183.15 points at 77,472.94, while the Nifty slipped 126.80 points, to close at 24,207.75.

The biggest deal of the day was in Groww parent Billionbrains Garage Ventures, where around 12.74 crore shares, about 2.1 per cent of the company’s equity, changed hands for approximately ₹2,500 crore at an estimated ₹196.2 per share. This followed a report the previous day that existing investor Ribbit Capital had launched a block deal to offload a 1.6 per cent stake at a floor price of ₹195 per share for around ₹1,914 crore. The quantity traded on Wednesday was larger than what the reported deal outlined. Billionbrains shares closed 3.33 per cent lower at ₹196.24.

Welspun Corp saw 63 lakh shares, representing about 2.4 per cent of its equity, change hands for ₹1,433.44 crore at ₹2,275.3 per share. The transaction came after reports that MD and CEO Vipul Mathur and promoter entity Welspun Investments and Commercials Ltd were looking to sell shares. The stock closed 1.65 per cent lower at ₹2,306.70, well below its 52-week high of ₹2,433.90 hit just the previous day.

PhysicsWallah saw 4.67 crore shares, about 1.6 per cent of equity, change hands at ₹117.72 apiece for ₹549.73 crore. Unlike the sellers’ market seen in other counters, the stock ended the session 3.94 per cent higher at ₹126.13, nearly 7.5 per cent above its block deal price. Rubicon Research also defied the trend, gaining 6.44 per cent to close at ₹1,818.80 after 8.43 lakh shares traded on the NSE for ₹140 crore. The stock also saw a separate large pre-market transaction on the BSE. Viyash Scientific, meanwhile, saw 84 lakh shares change hands for ₹224.81 crore at ₹270 per share and closed 5.37 per cent lower at ₹263.40.

The day’s trades are part of a broader August pattern. As of August 25, total bulk deal sell transactions in the month stood at ₹59,433 crore. Promoters accounted for ₹10,588.66 crore of selling, representing about 20.9 per cent of total bulk deal sales, a sharp jump from July’s 0.6 per cent share.

“The surge in bulk and block deals can be partly attributed to the strong institutional liquidity, particularly the robust monthly inflows into mutual funds, which are prompting fund managers to deploy the capital…”said Pranav Haldea, Managing Director, Prime Database Group. “Even though frontline stocks and indices may not be doing well, several other segments of the market have rallied in the recent months. For sellers too, valuations need to be attractive enough to encash their holdings.”

The trend reflects a recurring pattern where promoters use periods of sharp price appreciation to trim stakes. Welspun Corp stock, for instance, has returned 189 per cent year-to-date, while Rubicon Research has surged 167 per cent since the start of 2026. Kranthi Bathini, Director of Equity Strategy at WealthMills Securities, noted that liquidity on both the primary and secondary sides remains strong. “Whenever there are sharp vertical rallies, promoters tend to do block deals, offloading some per centage of their holdings…that’s what the promoters are doing,” he said, adding that buyers, often mutual funds or strategic investors, conduct due diligence before taking positions.

Uttam Kumar Srimal, Deputy Head of Fundamental Research at Axis Direct, said the selling should not be read as a sign of trouble at the underlying businesses. “Promoters and early investors are taking advantage of the sharp market recovery and elevated stock prices to monetise parts of their holdings…these transactions primarily represent calculated capital allocation decisions,” he said. Srimal pointed to valuation dynamics as a key driver, noting that substantial stock appreciation through 2026 has prompted investors to secure gains “in companies where market multiples have outpaced near-term earnings growth.” He added that while the seamless execution of large block deals reflects sustained institutional demand even at premium valuations, continuous equity supply at higher price bands “is likely to cap near-term gains, signaling a shift toward selective allocation over broad market chasing.”

On the institutional side, Prudential Corporation Holdings also launched a block sale of approximately 98.85 lakh shares, or about 2 per cent of ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company, at a price range of ₹2,998 to ₹3,158 per share, a discount of 2 to 7 per cent to the last closing price of ₹3,222.8. The books for that deal were set to close by 7.30 AM on August 27.

Published on August 26, 2026