



Mankekar, known as Professor on MUMBAI: Shivanand Mankekar, one of the largest individual shareholders in United Spirits , sold his 1.09 per cent stake in the liquor maker between April and June. The unassuming investor, who is also a management professor, may have pocketed a neat profit of Rs 150 crore if he tendered his shares in Diageo ’s open offer to public shareholders of United Spirits.Mankekar, known as Professor on Dalal Street , had bought around 15 lakh shares of United Spirits in a period spread between November 2012 and June 2013 at an average price of Rs 2,000 a piece. The purchases had cost him aboutRs 300 crore. At the open offer price of Rs 3,030 per share, he would have got about Rs 450 crore, about 50 per cent returns in 12-18 months.

It is not clear whether Mankekar has tendered his shares to Diageo during the open offer or sold them in the open market in the quarter. Shareholding pattern of United Spirits for the quarter ended June 30, 2014, shows many high net worth investors (HNIs) have sold off their holdings in United Spirits during the quarter as the stock was considered expensively valued.Mankekar came to be known to market participants in early 2000s, thanks to his investments in Kishore Biyani’s Pantaloon Retail (now Future Retail). The media-shy professor, who taught finance at Jamnalal Bajaj Management Institute , was among the first investors in Pantaloon. But Mankekar’s rise to fame was after 2010 in some of the pharma stocks , in which he made a killing, according to brokers and market participants.“His picks in the pharma sector such as Wockhardt Strides Arcolab and Shasun helped him gain a reputation,” said a broker familiar with his trades. Mankekar is said to have lost heavily in the stock market crash in 2008, following which he realigned his portfolio.