SAM, CAM, Herbert Smith, Ashurst act on BAT Plc strategic divestment in ITC Limited

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas advised, its long-standing client British American Tobacco (BAT) Plc. on the strategic divestment of approx. 3.5% stake held by Tobacco Manufacturers (India) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of BAT in ITC Limited (ITC).

The deal is valued at approximately USD 2.1 billion, making it one of the largest ever trades on the Indian stock exchanges.

Following the completion of the Block Trade, BAT remains a significant shareholder in ITC, with an approximately 25.5% holding.

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas team was led by Mithun V Thanks, Partner; Manjari Tyagi, Partner; Kaustubh Verma, Partner; Shraddha Suryavanshi, Principal Associate; Deepika Goyal, Principal Associate; Doorva Tripathi, Associate; and Piyush Kaushal, Associate.

Special acknowledgement to Gopalkrishna Sitaram Hegde, Consultant, for providing guidance on the regulatory approvals.

Herbert Smith Freehills advised on the governance, corporate aspects and the capacity and authority of TMI to undertake the Divestment.

The transaction team was led by Alex Kay (Corporate Partner), supported by Sarah Ries-Coward (Corporate Senior Associate), Meera Thakrar (Corporate Associate) and Eliza Joseph (Corporate Associate), alongside Howard Murray (Tax Partner), David Alexander (Tax Associate), Dinesh Banani (US Securities Partner) and Jen Yong (US Securities Associate).

Bank of America Securities India Limited (“BofA Securities”) and Citibank acted as the authorized dealer banks for the repatriation of the proceeds to BAT.

Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas advised BofA Securities and Citigroup Global Markets India Private Limited.

Ashurst LLP also advised BofA Securities on certain overseas aspects of the block trade.

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