JT Sale Speculation Continues

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 09/29/2011

Japan Tobacco Inc. said yesterday that it might buy back some shares should the government decide to sell part of its stake in the cigarette maker to raise funds for rebuilding after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, according to a Reuters story. "We are always hoping that the government will sell all its shares in JT," said Masakazu Shimizu, an executive deputy president at JT. "We don't know in which form or in how many tranches the shares are to be sold. "We would buy back some of the shares in order to prevent excessive fluctuations in our stock price but we have not said that we would buy all the shares to be sold." The government's holding in JT has already come down to the legal minimum and any sale would need revisions to the law. But, according to a Bloomberg story, the ruling Democratic Party of Japan yesterday proposed selling the government's entire 50.01 per cent stake. Enditem