煙草在線據(jù)福克斯商業(yè)新聞編譯　　2月26日，日本煙草公司表示，公司將從日本政府手中回購4.3%的公司股票，以幫助政府將在世界第三大煙草制造商日本煙草公司中的價(jià)值約100億美元的股權(quán)出售計(jì)劃能順利進(jìn)行。

　　就銷量而言排在菲莫國際公司和英美煙草公司之后的日本煙草公司2月27日說，它正計(jì)劃通過東京證券交易所工作時(shí)間外的ToSTNeT系統(tǒng)，回購總計(jì)8680萬股公司股票。它將按公司股票在2月26日的收市價(jià)格，每股2880日元支付，使得這次回購的總費(fèi)用如最初計(jì)劃達(dá)到2500億日元。

　　這次股票回購的目標(biāo)，是限制政府大規(guī)模出售自己在日本煙草公司中的股權(quán)——占日本煙草公司公開發(fā)行股票16.6%的3.333億股股票對市場產(chǎn)生的影響。日本政府計(jì)劃在3月中進(jìn)行的股權(quán)出售，目的是為2011年3月的地震海嘯災(zāi)后重建籌集資金。

　　在日本煙草公司購回股票后，日本政府將向公眾出售其余的部分。發(fā)售價(jià)將在3月11日至13日確定。

　　因此，在對即將被日本煙草公司回購的股票數(shù)量加以考慮之后，進(jìn)入到更大市場的實(shí)際股票數(shù)量總計(jì)為2.465億股。

　　在公開發(fā)售的股票中，有42.5%將分配給海外投資者，即總計(jì)1.048億股，基于2月26日星期二的日本煙草公司股票收市價(jià)，價(jià)值為3020億日元（33億美元）。

　　這次出售股權(quán)，可能將使日本煙草公司的外國持股比例達(dá)到33.3%，相比之下，在2012年12月31日時(shí)，外國持股比例為28.1%。

　　根據(jù)法律，日本政府被要求持有日本煙草公司公開發(fā)行股票的三分之一以上。

　　在日本政府宣布大規(guī)模出售股權(quán)之后，日本煙草公司股票跑贏大盤指數(shù)。該股票收于2880日元，跌0.7%，而日經(jīng)股票平均指數(shù)收市時(shí)跌2.3%。

　　投資信托公司首席執(zhí)行官Hiroyuki Fukunaga說：“日本煙草公司運(yùn)行良好，擁有良好的現(xiàn)金流，具有抗跌能力，而且也得益于日元走弱，因?yàn)楣镜匿N售額有50%來自海外業(yè)務(wù)。稀釋不應(yīng)該是問題，因?yàn)闆]有發(fā)行新的股票。如果有什么問題的話，這項(xiàng)交易應(yīng)該有助于擴(kuò)大日本煙草公司的投資基礎(chǔ)，與此同時(shí)，推進(jìn)公司的資產(chǎn)流動性。”

Japan Tobacco To Buy Back 4.3% of Shares

　　Japan Tobacco Inc. (2914.TO) said Tuesday that it will buy back 4.3% of its own shares from the government, in order to help the government's planned sale of its stake worth about $10 billion in the world's third biggest tobacco maker go more smoothly.

　　The company, ranked after Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) and British American Tobacco PLC (BTI) in terms of sales volume, said it is planning to repurchase a total of 86.8 million of own shares via the Tokyo Stock Exchange's off-hour ToSTNeT system Wednesday morning. It will pay Y2,880 per share -- the closing price of its shares on Tuesday, bringing the total costs for the buyback to Y250 billion as initially planned.

　　The share buyback is aimed at limiting the market impact from the government's massive sale of its stake in JT -- 333.3 million shares that makes up 16.6% of JT shares outstanding. The government's stake sale, scheduled in the middle of March, is aimed at raising funds for reconstruction after the March 2011 disaster.

　　After the share buyback, the government will then offer the remaining portion to the public. The offering price will be set on March 11-13.

　　As result, the actual amount of the shares to go to the broader market would total 246.5 million after taking into account the amount of shares to be bought back by JT.

　　Of the public offering, 42.5% will be allocated to overseas investors or a total of 104.8 million shares, valued at Y302 billion ($3.3 billion) based on JT's closing price Tuesday.

　　The sale could bring the ratio of foreign ownership of JT shares to as much as 33.3%, compared with 28.1% as of Dec. 31.

　　Under the law, Japanese government is required to hold more than one-third of JT shares outstanding.

　　Following the government's announcement of the massive stake sale, JT shares outperformed the broader indexes. The issue ended 0.7% lower at Y2,880, while the Nikkei Stock Average closed down 2.3%.

　　"JT is well run, has excellent cash flow, is defensive, yet also benefits from the weaker yen, as 50% of its sales are derived from overseas operations," said Investrust CEO Hiroyuki Fukunaga. "Dilution should not be a problem, as no new shares are being created. If anything, this deal should serve to expand the company's investor base while boosting its liquidity." Enditem