British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT) plans to sell 7%-15.3% stake in ITC Hotels via a block deal, the company informed via a media statement issued on Thursday.
BAT announced that its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Tobacco Manufacturers (India) Limited, Myddleton Investment Company Limited and Rothmans International Enterprises Limited, intend to sell the issued ordinary share capital in ITC Hotels via block deals.
The stake will be sold to the investors by way of an accelerated bookbuild process, the release said, adding that the final number of shares sold will be determined to optimise the overall pricing outcome to the Group.
The funds raised will help the company transition to its target leverage range of 2–2.5x adjusted net debt/adjusted EBITDA (ex-Canada) by end-2026.
Commenting on the development, BAT’s Chief Executive Tadeu Marroco said that company’s direct shareholding in ITC Hotels was a result of the demerger process that was completed by ITC earlier this year. “As previously stated, a direct stake in ITC Hotels is not a strategic holding for BAT, therefore, I am pleased that the proceeds from this transaction will further support continued progress towards our stated 2026 leverage corridor,” he added.
Established in 1975, the business of ITC Hotels has grown to encompass over 140 hotels across 90+ destinations in the Indian subcontinent.
Following a demerger from ITC Limited, ITC Hotels has been trading as a publicly listed entity since January 2025. As a result of its shareholding in ITC at the time of the demerger, BAT holds approximately 15.3% shareholding in ITC Hotels.
The promoter company ITC holds 39.85% stake in ITC Hotels.
The shares were listed on January 29, 2025 on the BSE at Rs 188 and at Rs 180 on NSE at a market capitalisation of about Rs 39,000 crore. The listing price was lower than what the Street had given earlier on January 6 during a special price-discovery session in which the stock was assigned a value of around Rs 260 on Nifty and about Rs 270 on BSE indices.
Shares of ITC Hotels today ended flat at Rs 207.80 on the NSE.
