ITC's shares up 5% intraday as government sells 2% stake in block deals

The shares of ITC shot up 5% intraday after the government confirmed that it had sold 2% stake in the company via block deals in early trade. 

 ITC shares hit an intraday high of Rs 291.95 apiece, before coming down to Rs 279.50, up Rs 3.10 or 1.12% from the day's high. 

The government held 11.12% stake in ITC as of December 2016, and is expected to mop up nearly Rs 6,700 crore through the sale. The 2% stake sale was done through the government's entity Specified Undertaking of UTI (SUUTI) in block deals. 

Neeraj Gupta, Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, confirmed to Zee Business that the government had told ITC's shares and would get around Rs 6,700 crore from the share sale. 

According to ET Now, unnamed sources said that Life Insurance Corporation was the buyer in the ITC block deal today. The stake sale was a part of the government's target of disinvesting its holdings in various companies to raise capital.