Key Points
MUMBAI - Shares of ITC extended the days losses to decline 4% in trade on Thursday after long-time investor British American Tobacco (BAT) indicated selling a partial stake to monetise shareholding and boost its balance sheet...
We have been actively working for some time on completing the regulatory process required to give us the flexibility to monetise some of our shareholding and will update at the earliest opportunity, it added...
In December last year, BATs chief executive Tadeu Marroco had indicated the possibility of selling a partial stake in ITC, which has more than doubled in value in the last two years...
We don't need to have more than 25% shareholding in ITC to have a strategic influence, including veto rights," Marroco had then said.. Stake sale, if done, would help strengthen BATs balance sheet, which is sitting on a debt of around 34 billion pound sterling...
ITC stock trades at 25 times its one-year forward earnings, compared to BAT which is trading at only 6 times, which is the lowest among global peers...
