| foundation 1901 | location_city Bristol | location_country United Kingdom | key_people Iain Napier, Chair (official)
Gareth Davis, CEO
Alison Cooper, CEO designate | industry Tobacco | products Cigarettes, cigars, fine-cut rolling tobacco, snus, rolling papers and tubes | revenue Pound sterling 6,517 million (2009)lt;/ref> | operating_income Pound sterling ,337 million (2009) | net_income Pound sterling 77 million (2009) | num_employees 38,000 (2010)lt;/ref> | parent | subsid | homepage http://www.imperial-tobacco.com www.imperial-tobacco.com] | footnotes }} Imperial Tobacco Group plc ( is a global tobacco company headquartered in Bristol United Kingdom It is the world’s fourth largest cigarette company by market share (after Philip Morris International British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco , and the worlds largest producer of cigars Shag (tobacco) and Rolling paper lt;/ref> It produces over 320 billion cigarettes per year, has 51 factories worldwide and its products are sold in over 160 countries. Its brands include Davidoff West (cigarette) Gauloises Blondes Montecristo (cigar) Drum (tobacco) (the worlds second largest selling fine-cut tobacco) and Rizla (the world’s best-selling rolling paper).lt;/ref> It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index

History

The Imperial Tobacco Company was created in 1901 through the amalgamation of thirteen British tobacco and cigarette companies comprising W.D. & H.O. Wills of Bristol (the leading manufacturer of tobacco-based products at that time), John Player & Sons of Nottingham and 11 other independent family businesses, which were being threatened by competition from the United States in the form of James Buchanan Duke and his American Tobacco Company http://www.imperial-tobacco.com/index.asp?page145 Imperial Tobacco History - Formation] First W. D. & H. O. Wills of Bristol merged with Stephen Mitchell & Son of Glasgow Subsequently other smaller companies including Lambert & Butler William Clarke & Son Franklyn Davey, Edwards Ringer, J & F Bell and F & J Smith participated in the amalgamation. The Companys first Chairman was William Wills, 1st Baron Winterstoke of the Wills Company. In 1902 the Imperial Tobacco Company and the American Tobacco Company agreed to form a joint venture: the British American Tobacco The parent companies agreed not to trade in each others domestic territory and to assign trademarks, export businesses and overseas subsidiaries to the joint venture. American Tobacco sold its share in 1911 but Imperial maintained an interest in British American Tobacco until 1980. In 1973 the Imperial Tobacco Company, having become increasingly diversified by acquisition of (amongst others) restaurant chains, food services and distribution businesses, changed its name to Imperial Grouphttp://www.imperial-tobacco.com/index.asp?page148 Imperial Tobacco History - Diversification] In 1985, the Company acquired the Peoples Drug tore chain and all subsidiaries from A. C. Israel.Chain Drug Review, March 14, 1988 “Lane being converted to the Peoples name” In 1986 the Company was acquired by the conglomerate Hanson plc for £2.5billion.http://www.imperial-tobacco.com/index.asp?page149 Imperial Tobacco History - The Hanson Years] Divestments during the period of ownership by Hanson included Courage Brewery to Elders Limited Golden Wonder to Dalgety plc Finlays to A J Patel, the wholesaling arm of Sinclair & Collis to Palmer & Harvey, Imperial Hotels and Catering to Trust House Forte and Ross Group to United Biscuits In 1996, following a decision to concentrate on core tobacco activities, Hanson de-merged Imperial and it was listed as an independent company on the UK stock exchange.http://www.imperial-tobacco.com/index.asp?page144 Imperial Tobacco History - The Company today] In 2003 Imperial acquired the worlds then fourth largest tobacco company, Reemtsma of Germany: the deal added brands such as Davidoff Peter Stuyvesant and West (cigarette) to its portfolio.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1860105.stm Imperial buys top German cigarette maker] In 2007 Imperial Tobacco entered the United States tobacco market with its $1.9 billion acquisition of Commonwealth Brands Inc, then the fourth largest tobacco company in the US.Bruce Schreiner, http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID/20071224/BIZ/712240312/1076/rss01 "Houchens expanding at a rapid pace: Company has evolved since Kentucky start"], Associated Press 24 December 2007 In February 2008, Imperial acquired the worlds then fifth largest tobacco company Altadis whose brands included Fortuna (cigarette) Gauloises Blondes and Gitanes http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/19/business/worldbusiness/19tobacco.html Imperial Tobacco to buy Altadis for $17bn]

Operations

The brands sold by Imperial Tobacco include:

Tobacco

*All Japan Tobacco products in Australia - Camel (cigarette) More (cigarette) Mild Seven etc. *Brandons *Davidoff *Embassy (cigarette) *Escort *Excellence *Fortuna (cigarette) *Gauloises *Gitanes *Horizon *John Player *Lambert & Butler - the UKs best selling brand *Mark Fernyhough cigarettes *Moon *Peter Jackson *Peter Stuyvesant *Prima *R1 *Regal (cigarette) *Richmond (cigarette) *Route 66 *Superkings *West (cigarette)

Other products

*Drum (tobacco) fine cut tobacco * Van Nelle fine cut tobacco * Golden Virginia fine cut tobacco *Rizla Rolling papers * Skruf snuff

Senior management

Gareth Davis has been chief executive of Imperial Tobacco since March 1996. His total annual compensation for this role is £1,998,000, which consists of a £939,000 salary and a £1,059,000 bonus.lt;/ref> Davis retires in May 2010 to be succeeded by Alison Cooper.

References

External links

*http://www.imperial-tobacco.com/ Official website] *http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?sIMT.L Yahoo profile] Category:Tobacco companies of the United Kingdom Category:Tobacco companies Category:Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Category:Companies based in Bristol Category:Companies established in 1901 de:Imperial Tobacco es:Imperial Tobacco fr:Imperial Tobacco it:Imperial Tobacco no:Imperial Tobacco pt:Imperial Tobacco ro:Imperial Tobacco ru:Imperial Tobacco fi:Imperial Tobacco sv:Imperial Tobacco Group