ITC shares in focus as ICICI Pru MF, Government of Singapore pick up stakes

Over the past six months, ITC shares have fallen more than 6 percent in trade.

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26 Aug, 2025 12:21

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Shares of ITC will be in focus on March 14 after the company's largest shareholder, British American Tobacco or BAT, pared a 3.5 percent stake in the diversified conglomerate.

BAT, through its subsidiary Tobacco Manufacturers (India), divested  43.68 crore equity shares in the company at same price, valuing at Rs 17,484.98 crore on March 13.

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Marquee investors Government of Singapore and ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund picked up 9.15 crore and 59.26 lakh equity shares in the FMCG major through open market transactions. They bought shares at an average price of Rs 400.25 each, valued at Rs 3,901.3 crore.

Over 30 large institutional investors, from insurance firms and mutual funds to FPIs used the opportunity to zoom in on the ITC shares at a discounted rate.

Also Read | BAT sells 3.5% ITC stake at Rs 400 per share for Rs 17.5k crore

Among domestic institutional investors, Nippon India MF, DSP MF, SBI MF, Max Life Insurance Company and Kotak Mahindra MF bought a piece of BAT's stake.

Foreign institutional investors that picked up a stake in the diversified conglomerate include BofA Securities, Societe Generale, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs (Singapore) Pte, Marshall Wace, Kuwait Investment Authority and Lockheed Martin.

The share sale has cut the holding of BAT to about 25.5 percent from 29 percent and BAT will have to wait for 180 days before paring its stake further.

The deal could potentially boost liquidity, by raising the free float. Additionally, with reduced BAT ownership, ITC's perceived corporate governance may improve, benefiting minority shareholders, noted experts.

"The stake sale could lead to a re-rating of the ITC stock, as investors view it as more independent. Long-term accumulation of ITC shares may be the next step, given its fundamentals," said Atul Parakh, chief executive of Bigul.

On March 13, ITC shares settled at Rs 422.4 per share on the BSE, higher by 4.5 percent. Intraday, the counter jumped almost 9 percent, marking its highest jump since May 21, 2020.

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.