London: British American Tobacco (BAT) has divested a 2.5% stake in Indian conglomerate ITC Ltd., raising $1.5 billion through a large-scale block deal. According to a term sheet reviewed by Reuters, the shares were sold at ₹413 apiece, reflecting a 4.8% discount from ITC’s closing price of ₹433.90 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) the previous day.
In total, BAT offloaded 313 million shares—surpassing its earlier plan to sell up to 290 million shares valued at around $1.4 billion. Despite the sale, BAT remains ITC’s single largest shareholder, according to data from LSEG.
The move triggered a nearly 3% drop in ITC shares on Wednesday, closing at ₹421.70. The stock emerged as the worst performer on both the NSE Nifty 50 and the Nifty FMCG index.
Goldman Sachs and Citigroup were the lead bookrunners for the transaction.
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This block deal marks the second major equity transaction in India this week. It follows IndiGo co-founder Rakesh Gangwal’s sale of a 5.7% stake in the budget airline, which fetched $1.36 billion.
BAT, listed in London, announced it would increase its 2025 share buyback programme by £200 million—bringing the total buyback to £1.1 billion ($1.49 billion)—as a direct result of the ITC stake sale. The company clarified that the transaction would not materially impact its full-year financial outlook.
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Last year, BAT sold approximately 436.9 million shares—roughly 3.5% of ITC’s outstanding shares—for $2 billion, ranking as India’s third-largest block deal ever.
In February, BAT projected modest 1% revenue growth for the year, citing regulatory and tax pressures in key markets, including Bangladesh and Australia.
