The shares were sold at ₹400.25 apiece. According to BSE block deals data, BAT sold 43.69 crore shares in the cigarette-to-FMCG conglomerate through an accelerated book-build process. Post the sale, the shareholding of BAT, which is ITC’s biggest shareholder, in the company declined to 25.5% from 29% earlier.
The block deal data showed that 65 institutional investors purchased the shares.
ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund was the biggest buyer in the deal with the fund house buying roughly 28% of shares valued at ₹4,963 crore. The Government of Singapore purchased shares worth ₹3,664 crore, while the US-based Capital Group acquired shares valued at ₹1,064 crore. Other notable buyers included BofA Securities (₹817 crore), Societe Generale (₹734 crore), Citigroup (₹702 crore), Morgan Stanley (₹612 crore), and Copthall Mauritius Investment (₹543 crore).
BAT has clarified that it does not intend to let its stake in ITC go below 25%.