Japan rolling up tobacco stake

Japan's Ministry of Finance, which owns more than 50% of former state monopoly Japan Tobacco, plans to sell 333 mil shares to raise about $10.4 bil for reconstruction of areas devastated by the '11 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Japan Tobacco, whose brands include Winston and Camel, has recently outperformed rivals like Philip Morris (PM), whose shares fell 2% to 91.56.

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