THE SMOKE CLEARS

BAT reducing its stake in ITC could remove uncertainties for the Indian giant 

- ARNAB DUTTA

BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO P.L.C. (BAT), the London-based tobacco giant, has reduced its stake in Kolkata-headquartered diversified conglomerate ITC Ltd by selling some 436.85 million shares on March 13. The block trade of shares, comprising approximately 3.5% stake in ITC, was sold to institutional investors by way of an accelerated bookbuild process, where shares are offered in a short time period with hardly any marketing. While the move created ripples among market investors in India, BAT’s strategy to utilise the proceeds over the next 18 months to buy back its shares resulted in an upward movement of its stock on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).