VST Industries’ shares surged to a 52-week high in the early trading hours on Wednesday, extending the previous day’s 20% gains, as ace investor Radhakishan Damani bought a 1.45% stake in the tobacco company on January 2. 

Shares of VST Industries hit a 52-week high of Rs 4,324.70, up 6.5% from the previous closing price on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The scrip lost early gains and was trading 1.58% higher at Rs 4,124.45 at 11:40 am. 

As per bulk deal data on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Avenue Supermart-founder RK Damani acquired 1.44% of the total outstanding shares amounting to 2.22 lakh shares of the company in a block deal on Tuesday at Rs 3,390 per share. SBI Mutual Fund also bought 2,25,000 shares in the cigarettes and tobacco maker at the same price. 

HDFC Mutual Fund and DSP Mutual Fund were the sellers in the block deal, selling 2,00,000 and 2,50,000 shares, respectively. As of December 2023, HDFC Mutual Fund held a 6.81% stake in VST Industries, while DSP MF owned 2.4% via its Small Cap Fund.

Damani is the single largest shareholder in VST Industries. Based on the December quarter shareholding pattern, Damani owned 30.71% of the company through his investment vehicles Derive Trading and Resorts and Bright Star Investments. Promoters of VST Industries hold 32.16% of the company.

VST Industries manufactures and sells cigarettes under five major brands like Charms and Charminar, and trades in unmanufactured tobacco. The company has two cigarette-making facilities in Hyderabad and has a direct distribution reach of over 1.1 million outlets.