BAT offloads 2.5% stake in ITC for $1.5 billion via block deal

British American Tobacco Plc (BAT) offloaded an around 2.5% of its stake in tobacco maker ITC Ltd for $1.5 billion on Wednesday.

The company sold 313 million shares in ITC at Rs413 per share, according to a term sheet, exceeding its plan to sell up to 290 million shares, valued at about $1.4 billion.

BAT earlier looked to sell about 2.3% of ITC’s shares at Rs400 apiece . BAT and its affiliates are subject to a six-month lockup.

BAT will remain the largest shareholder after the deal, LSEG data showed.

Goldman Sachs and Citigroup led the deal, the term sheet showed.

The ITC deal is the second major block trade this week after IndiGo co-founder Rakesh Gangwal offloaded a 5.7% stake in the airline for $1.36 billion.

BAT will use the proceeds to raise its share buybacks by £200 million (about $269 million) to £1.1 billion this year, the company said in a statement.

ITC is still seen as a “core strategic component of our global footprint,” chief executive officer Tadeu Marroco said.

Shares of ITC, which declined on Wednesday, fell further by 0.71% on Thursday.