烟草在线据福克斯商业新闻编译　　2月26日，日本烟草公司表示，公司将从日本政府手中回购4.3%的公司股票，以帮助政府将在世界第三大烟草制造商日本烟草公司中的价值约100亿美元的股权出售计划能顺利进行。

　　就销量而言排在菲莫国际公司和英美烟草公司之后的日本烟草公司2月27日说，它正计划通过东京证券交易所工作时间外的ToSTNeT系统，回购总计8680万股公司股票。它将按公司股票在2月26日的收市价格，每股2880日元支付，使得这次回购的总费用如最初计划达到2500亿日元。

　　这次股票回购的目标，是限制政府大规模出售自己在日本烟草公司中的股权——占日本烟草公司公开发行股票16.6%的3.333亿股股票对市场产生的影响。日本政府计划在3月中进行的股权出售，目的是为2011年3月的地震海啸灾后重建筹集资金。

　　在日本烟草公司购回股票后，日本政府将向公众出售其余的部分。发售价将在3月11日至13日确定。

　　因此，在对即将被日本烟草公司回购的股票数量加以考虑之后，进入到更大市场的实际股票数量总计为2.465亿股。

　　在公开发售的股票中，有42.5%将分配给海外投资者，即总计1.048亿股，基于2月26日星期二的日本烟草公司股票收市价，价值为3020亿日元（33亿美元）。

　　这次出售股权，可能将使日本烟草公司的外国持股比例达到33.3%，相比之下，在2012年12月31日时，外国持股比例为28.1%。

　　根据法律，日本政府被要求持有日本烟草公司公开发行股票的三分之一以上。

　　在日本政府宣布大规模出售股权之后，日本烟草公司股票跑赢大盘指数。该股票收于2880日元，跌0.7%，而日经股票平均指数收市时跌2.3%。

　　投资信托公司首席执行官Hiroyuki Fukunaga说：“日本烟草公司运行良好，拥有良好的现金流，具有抗跌能力，而且也得益于日元走弱，因为公司的销售额有50%来自海外业务。稀释不应该是问题，因为没有发行新的股票。如果有什么问题的话，这项交易应该有助于扩大日本烟草公司的投资基础，与此同时，推进公司的资产流动性。”

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