British American Tobacco drops its nicotine inhaler Voke to prioritise vapour and tobacco heating products January 5, 2017 British American Tobacco (BAT) today announced it would drop its medical nicotine inhaler Voke to focus more directly on products like e-cigarettes aimed at consumers. BAT said it will give up its manufacturing, intellectual property and know-how assets to Kind Consumer, from which it licensed the product, in return for deferred, contingent payments. No financial details were disclosed. Read [...]
British American Tobacco’s newest e-cigarette has been launched in the UK December 1, 2016 A new electronic cigarette has launched in the UK from tobacco giant British American Tobacco (BAT) designed for consumers who've written off vaping. Vype Pebble, BAT's release, follows a launch by rival Philip Morris as the companies step up their stakes in the alternative cigarette market. Vype's researchers targeted consumers looking for something different from traditional cigarette-shaped or bulky vapour devices. Read more: [...]
British American Tobacco shares fall three per cent after announcing $49bn Reynolds takeover deal January 17, 2017 British American Tobacco's (BAT) share price tumbled four per cent on Tuesday afternoon after it announced a deal to take over US competitor Reynolds. After months of talks between the two firms, BAT has agreed to pay around $49.4bn (£40.8bn) for the 57.8 per cent of Reynolds that it does not already own. Its shares jumped [...]
Unaoil bribery probe: Serious Fraud Office (SFO) charges Ziad Akle and Basil Al Jarah in Unaoil investigation November 16, 2017 The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) today charged two people amid an ongoing investigation into Monaco-based oil firm Unaoil. Ziad Akle and Basil Al Jarah were both charged by requisition with conspiracy to make corrupt payments to secure contracts in Iraq to Unaoil’s client SBM Offshore between June 2005 and August 2011. Akle was Unaoil’s [...]
Markets roundup: Pound sterling hits its highest since the Brexit vote as FTSE 100 smashes records January 12, 2018 The pound partied hard this afternoon following reports of good news for Brexit negotiators – as the FTSE 100 ended the week by breaking another record Sterling began the evening more than one per cent higher against the dollar, while it mustered a 0.2 per cent rise against the euro as reports the Spanish and [...]
Merger and acquisition values shot to £86bn last quarter in “sizeable” rise December 5, 2017 The value of successful domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) showed a “sizeable” increase in the third quarter of 2017, according to official figures. There were a total of 163 acquisitions and disposals involving UK companies worth £86.4bn in the quarter from July to September, compared with 241 transactions worth £33.2bn in the quarter [...]
UK mergers and acquisitions hit a new record last year as companies defend themselves from foreign takeovers January 9, 2018 The number of merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in the UK hit a record high last year, despite growing dissatisfaction from the business community with the pace and vagueness of the Brexit negotiations. The number of deals where a UK company was the target escalated to 1,543 in 2017 from 1,493 the year before, according [...]
British American Tobacco says a minimum excise tax in the Autumn Statement would only fuel the black market November 21, 2016 UK smokers face a triple whammy in 2017 ahead of Philip Hammond's Autumn Statement, a British American Tobacco spokesperson said. With a duty escalator expected and more limitations to come from the EU's tobacco products directive, BAT said the minimum excise tax proposed by former chancellor George Osborne should be dropped. The minimum excise tax is effectively a floor price that would [...]
Shares in British American Tobacco jump after a $47bn offer to merge with Reynolds October 21, 2016 Shares in British American Tobacco (BAT) rose more than four per cent by lunchtime after it offered to fully acquire Reynolds American in a $47bn (£38.4bn) deal. London-listed BAT already owns 42.2 per cent of Reynolds, but shares rose to 4,999.75p after it offered to acquire the remaining 57.8 per cent at $56.50 per share, representing a 20 per [...]
Fitch puts British American Tobacco on rating watch negative after buyout offer of Reynolds American October 24, 2016 Ratings agency Fitch has put British American Tobacco (BAT) on a rating watch negative after it offered to buy out Reynolds American. It warned that the debt required for funding the deal would mean it could not keep its current A credit rating. A similar announcement was made by fellow agency Moody's on Friday, who [...]