BAT Sells 3.5% Stake In ITC To ICICI Prudential MF, Singapore Government, Among Others

British American Tobacco, the largest public shareholder of ITC Ltd., sold a 3.5% stake for Rs 17,484 crore through an open market transaction on Wednesday.

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund mopped up 12.4 crore shares (0.99%), the Government of Singapore bought 9.15 crore shares (0.73%), BofA Securities Europe acquired 2.04 crore shares (0.16%), and Societe Generale bought 1.83 crore shares (0.14%) at Rs 400.25 apiece on the Bombay Stock Exchange, according to block deal data.

Morgan Stanley Asia Singapore obtained 1.53 crore shares (0.12%), Citi Group Global Markets Mauritius secured 1.73 crore shares (0.13%) and other multiple buyers picked up 22.18 crore shares (1.78%) at Rs 400.25 apiece.

BAT, through three of its entities, owned 29.03% of the Indian cigarettes-to-hotels company, according to the data from BSE. Post-block trade, the stake held came down to 25.5%.

ITC is a valued associate of BAT in an attractive market with long-term growth potential where BAT benefits from exposure to the world’s most populous market, BAT said in a statement.

Shares of ITC Ltd. closed 4.49% higher at Rs 422.40 apiece, compared with a 1.23% fall in the benchmark BSE Sensex.