British multinational BAT Plc on Wednesday trimmed its ownership in conglomerate ITC by divesting a 2.5 per cent stake for Rs 12,927 crore ($1.51 billion) through a block deal, according to a revised term sheet accessed by PTI. Following the stake sale, shares of ITC went lower by 1.15 per cent to trade at Rs 421.15 apiece on the NSE.
Promoters of India's top private listed companies have cut their stakes sharply since 2021, taking advantage of elevated valuations and reshaping ownership dynamics in the market. Holdings of promoters in the top 200 privately owned listed firms declined nearly 600 basis points (bps) to 37 per cent at the end of FY25, from 43 per cent in FY21.
British multinational BAT PLC on Tuesday said it plans to sell up to 3.5 per cent stake in India's ITC Ltd to institutional investors through a block trade. In a statement, British American Tobacco PLC (BAT), the single largest shareholder in ITC Ltd (ITC), said its wholly-owned subsidiary Tobacco Manufacturers (India) Ltd (TMI) intends to sell up to 43,68,51,457 ordinary shares in the Indian diversified entity to institutional investors by way of an accelerated bookbuild process (block trade), subject to customary closing conditions.
Sanjiv Puri, chairman and managing director of ITC, is looking to expand the conglomerate's play outside India by taking "strategic positions" in markets close to home in the non-cigarette fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and hospitality businesses. In a recent conversation with Business Standard, Puri revealed that ITC is setting sights beyond India's borders. "We already export to 100-odd countries. We want to scale that up and take some strategic positions in markets close to us," he said.
ITC stock slipped over 4 per cent on Thursday (February 8) after British American Tobacco (BAT) said it could sell some of its stake in the company, recovering partially in trade. The stock of the cigarette-to-hotels conglomerate traded at Rs 420 levels, rising 1.3 per cent in intraday deals as compared to the S&P BSE Sensex that traded flat for most part of the day. The development, meanwhile, saw Jefferies downgrade the stock to 'hold' from 'buy' earlier with a target price of Rs 430, down a huge 17.3 per cent from its earlier price target of Rs 520.
Global tobacco majors Philip Morris International and Japan Tobacco International on Friday deplored as "discriminatory," the Indian government's decision to ban foreign investment in cigarettes.
Honda will name their new team for 2006 in agreement with future sponsors.
Jenson Button's BAR Formula One team has been put up for sale -- but only to allow a new joint venture between engine partners Honda and majority owners British American Tobacco to buy it back.
The Briton, who started his career working for the Hesketh team in 1977, died in Melbourne of a pulmonary embolism, it said.
During his time as executive chairman, the company's net revenues grew 17-fold to Rs 42,777 crore and profit after tax nearly 40 times to Rs 10,289 crore. Total shareholder returns grew at a compounded annual rate of around 20%. Besides numbers, his biggest achievement was to transform ITC from a cigarette company to a diversified enterprise.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
The rules make India's health warnings on tobacco products the world's most stringent, along with Thailand
A pick-up in low-cost cigarette consumption helped India's largest cigarette maker boost margins
Some questions cited concerns that larger warnings can hurt tobacco farmers and boost illicit trade.
China now world's second largest share market, India is 7th
The outgoing chairman believed in building for the future; for his successor, the challenge will be to maintain the momentum, says Ishita Ayan Dutt.
Forty years on, ironically, the managerial attention to new businesses has meant almost 40 per cent of revenues now come from the non-tobacco business.
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