BLS International’s shares surged as much as 9% during Monday’s intraday trade after ace investor Shankar Sharma acquired a stake in the company.

The industry expert picked shares of the traveling and visa service provider on Friday, , according to the bulk data provided by the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Sharma bought 11.5 lakh equity shares at an average price of Rs 275 per share, as per the data. His stake in the company is valued at around Rs 31.63 crore.

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With this development, the stock of BLS International jumped over 9% to hit the day’s high of Rs 324.90. The stock had settled at Rs 291.20 on Friday on NSE. At 02.21 pm, the stock was trading 9.68% higher at Rs. 319.40

As of June 30, 2022, Shankar Sharma’s name was not there in the key shareholder’s list. BLS International is yet to announce its latest shareholding for the period ending September 30, 2022. For the quarter that ended June 30, 2022, the company reported a promoter shareholding of 74.59%, FIIs holding of 4.32%, public holding of 21.06%, and other shareholdings of 0.03%.

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The New Delhi-based company has an online visa application centre in India and offers visa consultancy services for individuals, students, families, and many other categories. BLS is also named among Fortune India’s Next 500 firms and has been named “Best under a Billion Company” by Forbes Asia.

Global financial firm Nomura Singapore has been investing in BLS International lately and holds a significant stake in the company, according to the bulk deal data reported earlier.

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Shares of BLS International have delivered huge returns to investors, surging more than 230% on a year-to-date basis. The stock has increased more than 90% in the last months. The stock has gone up from Rs 94.73 on January 3 to the current market price on a year-to-date basis. According to Trendlyne data, Shankar Sharma publicly holds seven stocks with a net worth of more than Rs 117 crore according to the latest shareholdings filed.