ITC Hotels share slip amid large trades; here's what investors should know

ITC Hotels shares were trading lower on BSE, logging the day's low at ₹205.55 per share amid large trades. At 9:45 AM, on BSE, 0.21 million shares were traded, while on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 4.8 million shares changed hands. 

 

Meanwhile, ITC Hotels' share price was trading 0.82 per cent lower at ₹206.05 per share. In comparison, BSE Sensex was up 0.07 per cent at 85,322.49.

 

The market capitalisation of the company stood at ₹43,196.26 crore. The 52-week high was at ₹261.35 per share, and the 52-week low was at ₹158.  

ITC Hotels block deal details

ITC Hotels had about 187.5 million shares change hands in seven block trades on NSE, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The buyers and sellers of the transactions were not known. 

 

Reportedly, British American Tobacco Plc (BAT) increased the size of the stake it is seeking to offload in ITC Hotels as the maker of Lucky Strike cigarettes seeks to reduce debt.

 

BAT was likely to sell between 7 per cent and its entire 15.3 per cent stake in ITC Hotels, with proceeds from the block trade earmarked for deleveraging its balance sheet. BAT had earlier sought to sell a 7 per cent stake. The offering floor price was set at ₹205.65 per share, and the block size was ₹2,998 crore, reports said.

 

The proceeds will support BAT’s progress towards achieving its target leverage corridor of 2–2.5x adjusted net debt/adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (adjusted for Canada) by the end of 2026.

 

In a statement, BAT Chief Executive Tadeu Marroco said: “Our direct shareholding in ITC Hotels was a result of the demerger process completed by ITC earlier this year. As previously stated, a direct stake in ITC Hotels is not a strategic holding for BAT. I am pleased that the proceeds from this transaction will further support progress towards our stated 2026 leverage corridor.”

 

At an after-results analyst meet in February, Marroco had said BAT would divest its stake in ITC Hotels “at the right moment”. READ MORE 

 

Last year, BAT sold part of its stake in ITC for about $2 billion to fund a share buyback program. Following the demerger, BAT held a 15.3 per cent stake in ITC Hotels, while ITC holds 39.85 per cent.

 

ITC Hotels is majority-owned by ITC Ltd., an Indian cigarette maker that also has other businesses including food products and packaging.