JT Sale to Take 15 Years

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 09/30/2011

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan's plan to sell the government's entire stake in Japan Tobacco Inc. would involve reducing its stake to a third within the next five years and selling the remainder within the following 10 years, according to a Financial Times story. International investors have long argued that the company should buy back shares from the government to raise its EPS and share price. But lawmakers close to leaf tobacco growers are expected to fight the sale. Currently, JT is required to buy all of the leaf tobacco produced in the country, but it is unlikely that that position would be maintained even though a privatized entity might inherit that responsibility for a while. The government's 50.01 per cent stake in JT is valued at ￥1.7 trillion yen. Enditem