Japan: Govt to Sell 253 million Japan Tobacco Shares

Source from:  The Daily Yomiuri 03/13/2013

The government will sell off 253,261,800 shares in Japan Tobacco Inc. on the market, the Finance Ministry has announced.
 
The government will sell the shares at 2,949 yen apiece, a discount of 2 percent on the stock's closing price on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Monday.
 
Of the shares, 145,625,500, or 57.5 percent, will be sold in Japan, and the rest will be sold abroad. Currently, more than 60 percent of JT shares, excluding those owned by the government, are held by foreign investors.
 
The total number of shares to be sold, including those already bought back by the company, will be 333,333,200.
 
Proceeds from the sale, estimated at about 973.4 billion yen, will be used to finance restoration projects for the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami disaster.
 
After the sale, the government's stake in the company will drop to slightly more than one-third. Enditem