BAT is said to launch ITC selldown as soon as this week

British American Tobacco Plc, the maker of Lucky Strike cigarettes, is preparing to kick off a sale of part of its stake in Indian partner ITC Ltd. as soon as this week, people with knowledge of the matter said.

London-listed BAT has been speaking with Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. about a potential divestment of around $2 billion to $3 billion in ITC stock through block trades, the people said.

Such deals are usually done at a discount to the market price. Details of the transaction could still change, and the launch of the offering may spill into next week depending on market conditions, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

BAT confirmed in a statement that it’s evaluating a possible disposal of a “small part” of its ITC shareholding through an on-market block trade. There’s no certainty on the terms of any potential transaction or whether the deal will move ahead, it said.