File picture of the ITC office building in Kolkata
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Shares of ITC were in the limelight on Wednesday, climbing nearly 9% and adding ₹32,127.11 crore to its market valuation, amid stake sale news.

The stock zoomed 8.59% to ₹439 on the BSE. Shares of the company jumped 8.29% to ₹438 on the NSE. The company’s market capitalisation (mcap) soared by ₹32,127.11 crore to ₹5,36,453.59 in the morning trade.

It was the biggest gainer among the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty firms.

British multinational BAT PLC on Tuesday said it plans to sell up to 3.5% 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.

Based on Tuesday’s closing price of Rs 404.25 per share, the value of the total ITC shares planned to be sold by BAT is around ₹17,659.72 crore.

“The block trade shares represent up to 3.5% of ITC’s issued ordinary share capital,” it said, adding, that following the completion of the proposed block trade, BAT will remain a significant shareholder of ITC, with 25.5% holding.

BAT’s initial investment in ITC dates back to the early 1900s and the two companies have a longstanding, mutually beneficial relationship, the statement said.

The company said it intends to use the net proceeds of the block trade to buy back BAT shares over a period ending December 2025, starting with 700 million pound in 2024.

It will also continue to allocate operating cash flow to fund investment in its transformation and to further deleverage.