British American Tobacco bids €43bn for Reynolds American to create biggest tobacco company

British American Tobacco (BAT) has offered to buy out US cigarette maker Reynolds American in a $47bn (€43bn) takeover that would create the world’s biggest listed tobacco company, with brands including Newport, Lucky Strike, and Pall Mall.

The cash-and-stock deal would mark the return of BAT — which owns the PJ Carroll company in Ireland — to the lucrative and highly regulated US market after a 12-year absence, making it the only tobacco giant with a leading presence in American and international markets.

It would also give the British company — which has been bolstered by a strong share price since the country voted to leave the EU — more premium brands such as Camel, which it can sell in countries such as Russia and Turkey where demand for Western cigarettes is still growing.