7th Mar 2016 14:49
LONDON (Alliance News) - British American Tobacco PLC may be considering buying the remaining stake in US tobacco company Reynolds American Inc which it doesn't already own, according to a report by The Telegraph on Saturday.
BAT spent USD4.70 billion last year to maintain its 42% stake in Reynolds, following the acquisition of Lorillard Inc by Reynolds in a deal valued at USD27.4 billion.
BAT is now understood to have hired a team from Centerview, an investment bank involved in that deal, according to the newspaper, fuelling speculation that it is considering a full takeover of Reynolds.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/03/05/british-american-tobacco-sends-smoke-signals-over-us-mega-deal/
With a market capitalisation of USD74 billion, New York-listed Reynolds is the second biggest tobacco company in the US, behind Altria Group Inc. By comparison, London-listed BAT is valued at GBP75 billion.
BAT couldn't be reached immediately for comment.
Shares in BAT were trading down 0.6% at 4,021.50 pence on Monday.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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