Imperial Brands plc (originally the Imperial Tobacco Company of Great Britain & Ireland, and subsequently Imperial Tobacco Group plc) is a British multinational

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

company headquartered in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, England. It is the world's fourth-largest international cigarette company measured by market share after

Philip Morris International Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) is a multinational tobacco company, with products sold in over 180 countries. Marlboro is PMI’s most recognized brand, but in the last quarter of 2023, Iqos generated the greatest revenue. Philip Mor ...

British American Tobacco British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products including electronic cigarettes. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, E ...

and

Japan Tobacco The (JT) is a Japanese diversified tobacco company and parent company to Japan Tobacco International, one of the three largest international Big Tobacco product manufacturers in the world. It was established in 1985 as a that inherited the ri ...

and the world's largest producer of fine-cut tobacco and tobacco papers. Imperial Brands is listed on the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

and is a constituent of the

FTSE 100 Index The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is the United Kingdom's best-known stock market index of the 100 most highly capitalised blue chips listed on ...

. Imperial Brands has 30 factories worldwide and its products are sold in around 120 countries. Its tobacco brands include

Davidoff Davidoff is a Swiss premium brand of cigars, cigarettes and smoker's accessories. The Davidoff cigarette brand has been owned by Imperial Brands after purchasing it in 2006. The non-cigarette portion of the Davidoff tobacco brand is owned by Oe ...

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

Golden Virginia Golden Virginia is a hand-rolling tobacco brand manufactured in Nottingham, England, by Imperial Brands, until 2016, and sold throughout Europe. It is a blend of fine-cut Virginia, burley, and oriental tobaccos. Golden Virginia first appeared i ...

Drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

and Rizla. Imperial Brands's alternative

nicotine Nicotine is a natural product, naturally produced alkaloid in the nightshade family of plants (most predominantly in tobacco and ''Duboisia hopwoodii'') and is widely used recreational drug use, recreationally as a stimulant and anxiolytic. As ...

products include the blu brand of

electronic cigarettes An electronic cigarette (e-cigarette), or vape, is a device that simulates smoking. It consists of an Construction of electronic cigarettes#Atomizer and tank, atomizer, a power source such as a battery, and a container such as a cartridge or ...

, the Pulze and iD brands of heated tobacco systems, and the Zone X and Skruf brands of nicotine pouches.

Imperial Tobacco Canada Imperial Tobacco Canada Limited is a cigarette manufacturing company operating in Canada. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of British American Tobacco. It was created in 1908 and bought out the Canadian interests of the American Tobacco Company, ...

is the Canadian subsidiary of

, and has no relationship to Imperial Brands. Similarly,

Imperial Tobacco Company Imperial Brands plc (originally the Imperial Tobacco Company of Great Britain & Ireland, and subsequently Imperial Tobacco Group plc) is a British multinational tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, England. It is the world's fourth-larges ...

of India (now known as

ITC Limited ITC Limited is an Indian conglomerate, headquartered in Kolkata. It has a presence across six business segments, namely FMCG, agribusiness, information technology, paper products, and packaging. It generates a plurality of its revenue from t ...

) is a separate company and has no relationship to Imperial Brands.

History

1901 to 2000

The Imperial Tobacco Company was created in 1901, in response to the price war in the British market promoted by "Buck Duke"'s

American Tobacco Company The American Tobacco Company was a tobacco company founded in 1890 by J. B. Duke through a merger between a number of U.S. tobacco manufacturers including Allen and Ginter, Goodwin & Company, and Kinney Brothers. The company was one of the or ...

. It amalgamated 13 British tobacco and cigarette companies: W.D. & H.O. Wills of

(the leading manufacturer of tobacco products at that time),

John Player & Sons John Player & Sons, most often known simply as Player's, was a tobacco and cigarette manufacturer based in Nottingham, England. In 1901 the company merged with twelve other companies to become a branch of the Imperial Tobacco Company of Great B ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

, Stephen Mitchell & Son of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, and 10 other independent family businesses. The other, smaller companies, involved in the amalgamation included Lambert & Butler, William Clarke & Son, Franklyn Davey, Edwards Ringer & Bigg, Hignett Brothers, Hignett's Tobacco, Adkins & Sons, Richmond Cavendish, D&J MacDonald, and F&J Smith. In 1902 the printing and packaging firm, Mardon, Son & Hall was absorbed. In 1904, James & Finlay Bell Ltd was merged into the Stephen Mitchell & Son branch. The company's first chairman was

William Henry Wills William Wills may refer to: * William Wills, 1st Baron Winterstoke (1830–1911), British businessman and peer * William Gorman Wills (1828–1891), Irish dramatist and painter * William Henry Wills (journalist) (1810–1880), journalist, newspaper ...

of the Wills Company. In 1902, the Imperial Tobacco Company and the

agreed to form a joint venture: the British-American Tobacco Company Ltd. Imperial extended the tobacco growing enterprises in the United States that

WD & HO Wills W.D. & H.O. Wills was a British tobacco manufacturing company formed in Bristol, England. It was the first British company to mass-produce cigarettes. It was one of the 13 founding companies of the Imperial Tobacco Company (of Great Britain and ...

had developed before the amalgamation of 1901. It also established its own leaf-buying organisation in the US based at the Imperial Tobacco Warehouse in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

; this is now owned, and has been renovated by Measurement Incorporated. It built the Imperial Tobacco Company Building at

Mullins, South Carolina Mullins is a city in Marion County, South Carolina, United States. As of the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census, the city population was 4,663. Incorporated on March 4, 1872, Mullins was named after Col. William S. Mullins, who served as a r ...

, between 1908 and 1913. Whereas American Tobacco sold its share of BAT in 1911, a divestiture prompted by Supreme Court rulings in an anti-trust case, 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 Group while tobacco products continued to be sold by a newly formed subsidiary named Imperial Tobacco Limited. In 1986, the company was acquired by the conglomerate Hanson Trust plc for £2.5 billion. Divestments during the period of ownership by Hanson included

Courage Brewery Courage was an English brewery, founded by John Courage in London, England, in 1787. History Origin and family ownership The Courage Brewery was started by John Courage (1757 – October 1793). He was a Scottish shipping agent believed to b ...

to Elders,

Golden Wonder Golden Wonder is a British company that manufactures snack foods, most notably crisps. These include Ringos, Golden Wonder and Transform-A-Snack. Since 2006, it has been a wholly owned subsidiary of the Northern Irish company Tayto, purchased ...

to Dalgety, Finlays to Arunbhai J. Patel, the wholesaling arm of Sinclair & Collis to Palmer & Harvey, Imperial Hotels and Catering to

Trust House Forte Forte Group plc was a British hotel and restaurant company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it was acquired by Granada in 1996. Its head office was in the London Borough of Camden. ...

and Ross Frozen Foods to

United Biscuits United Biscuits (UB) is a British multinational food manufacturer, makers of McVitie's biscuits, Jacob's Cream Crackers, and Twiglets. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In ...

. This also led to a dispute over pension payments to employees, as seen in ''

Imperial Group Pension Trust Ltd v Imperial Tobacco Ltd ''Imperial Group Pension Trust Ltd v Imperial Tobacco Ltd'' 9911 WLR 589 is an English trust law case, especially relevant for UK labour law and UK company law, concerning pension funds and the implementation of a poison pill. Facts The Imperi ...

''. 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.

2000 to present

In 2003, Imperial acquired the world's then fourth-largest tobacco company, Reemtsma Cigarettenfabriken GmbH of Germany: the deal added brands such as

Peter Stuyvesant Peter Stuyvesant ( – August 1672)Mooney, James E. "Stuyvesant, Peter" in p.1256 was a Dutch colonial administrator who served as the Directors of New Netherland, director-general of New Netherland from 1647 to 1664, when the colony was pro ...

, and

to its portfolio. 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
"Houchens expanding at a rapid pace: Company has evolved since Kentucky start"
Associated Press, 24 December 2007 In February 2008, Imperial acquired the world's then fifth-largest tobacco company,

Altadis Altadis is a Spanish-French multinational purveyor and manufacturer of cigarettes, tobacco and cigars. It was formed via a 1999 merger between Tabacalera, the former Spanish tobacco monopoly and , the former French tobacco monopoly. Through its ...

, whose brands included

Fortuna Fortuna (, equivalent to the Greek mythology, Greek goddess Tyche) is the goddess of fortune and the personification of luck in Religion in ancient Rome, Roman religion who, largely thanks to the Late Antique author Boethius, remained popular thr ...

, Gauloises Blondes, and

Gitanes Gitanes (, " Gypsy women") is a French brand of cigarettes, owned and manufactured by Imperial Tobacco following their acquisition of Altadis in January 2008, having been owned by SEITA before that. History Gitanes was launched in 1910 in f ...

. A number of factory closures were subsequently announced, including the long-running cigar factory in Bristol. Following the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

's decision in January 2010 to ban the display of tobacco products in shops, as well as the availability of tobacco vending machines in public buildings with effect from late 2011, Imperial Tobacco attempted to challenge the change in the law on the grounds that regulations of the sale goods rested with the

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

. This case was dismissed on 30 September 2010 by Lord Bracadale in the

Court of Session The Court of Session is the highest national court of Scotland in relation to Civil law (common law), civil cases. The court was established in 1532 to take on the judicial functions of the royal council. Its jurisdiction overlapped with othe ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. In 2011, Altadis USA Inc. said it would add to its

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...

, headquarters and move Commonwealth Brands Inc. employees from

Bowling Green, Kentucky Bowling Green is a city in Warren County, Kentucky, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 72,294 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Kentucky, third-most populous city in the stat ...

. The company's name changed to Commonwealth-Altadis Inc. In 2013, Imperial opened a new global headquarters in Bristol. In April 2014, Imperial announced the closure of its long-running Horizon factory in

. The factory closed in 2016, marking the end of cigarette production in England. On 15 July 2014,

Reynolds American Reynolds American, Inc. is an American tobacco company which is a subsidiary of British American Tobacco and is the second-largest tobacco company in the United States. Its holdings include R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, American Snuff Compan ...

agreed to buy

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...

–based

Lorillard Tobacco Company Lorillard Tobacco Company was an American tobacco company that marketed cigarettes under the brand names Newport (cigarette), Newport, Maverick (cigarette), Maverick, Old Gold (cigarette), Old Gold, Kent (cigarette), Kent, True (cigarette), True, ...

, for $27.4 billion. The deal also included the sale of the

Kool Kool may refer to: People * Kool (surname), surname of Dutch origin * Robert "Kool" Bell (born 1950), American bassist and founder of Kool and the Gang * Roger Kool (1954–2005), Singaporean DJ (Roger Kiew) * Kool DJ Herc (born 1955), Jamaica ...

, Winston, Salem, and blu eCigs brands to Imperial for $7.1 billion. In November 2014, Imperial said Commonwealth-Altadis and the Lorillard operations being acquired would be called ITG Brands LLC. The deal with Lorillard was completed on 12 June 2015, and as part of the deal, Greensboro became the location of the ITG headquarters. On 1 November 2018, ITG announced production would move from the former

plant in

Reidsville, North Carolina Reidsville is a city in Rockingham County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. At the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 14,583. Reidsville is included in the Greensboro–High Point Metropolitan Statistical Area of the Piedmont Tr ...

, built in 1892, and later expanded, to Greensboro by 2020. The plant made USA Gold, Sonoma, Montclair and Rave. Imperial tobacco logo

In February 2016, Imperial changed its name to "Imperial Brands" to distance itself from tobacco. In 2018, a subsidiary, Imperial Brands Ventures, took a stake in Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies which is licensed by the

UK government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

to develop cannabis-based medicines. In November 2019, after searching for a new chairman since February, the company announced its senior independent director Thérèse Esperdy would take the role. In July 2020, Stefan Bomhard, the former chief executive of global automotive distributor

Inchcape Inchcape or the Bell Rock is a reef about off the east coast of Angus, Scotland, near Dundee and Fife, occupied by the Bell Rock Lighthouse. The name ''Inchcape'' comes from the Scottish Gaelic ''Innis Sgeap'', meaning "beehive isle", probabl ...

and former president of Bacardi Europe, became chief executive of Imperial Brands. In 2021, Imperial Brands opened an office in Hammersmith, West London. In 2021 Imperial Brands launched the Pulze and iD heated tobacco system in selected European markets. The company has also launched Zone X, an oral nicotine brand, in several European countries. In 2022 and 2023, Imperial Brands launched blu 2.0, an upgrade to its blu vaping device, in the UK and several other countries.

Products

The company's brands include:

Cigarettes

* All

products in Australia—

Camel A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...

More More may refer to: Computing * MORE (application), outline software for Mac OS * more (command), a shell command * MORE protocol, a routing protocol * Missouri Research and Education Network Music Albums * ''More!'' (album), by Booka Shade, ...

Mevius , previously called , is a Japanese brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Japan Tobacco. History Mevius was launched in 1977 under the name Mild Seven and was intended to be a mild version of the Seven Stars brand. It was la ...

, among others * Bastos (cigarette) * Ducados *

Dutch Masters (cigar) Dutch Masters is an American brand of natural wrapped cigars that has been sold since 1912. Its distinctive packaging features Rembrandt's 1662 painting ''Syndics of the Drapers' Guild''. Dutch Masters cigars are currently manufactured and sold b ...

Backwoods Smokes Backwoods is an American brand of cigars that was introduced in 1973. This product was notable during the 1970s and 1980s for heavy advertising, which became one of the more obvious examples of how companies at the time reacted to changing laws ...

* Brandon's * Capstan * Carlton * Crowns *

Embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a Sovereign state, state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase ...

* Escort * Excellence *

Gauloises Gauloises (, "Gaulish" eminine pluralin French; ''cigarette'' is a feminine noun in French) is a brand of cigarette of France, French origin. It is produced by the company Imperial Tobacco following its acquisition of Altadis in January 2008 ...

* Horizon *

* John Player Best *

* Lambert & Butler * Mark Fernyhough *

Maverick Maverick or Maveric may refer to: History * Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick Aviation * AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design * General Aviation Design Bureau T-32 M ...

* Moon * Parker & Simpson *

(in Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

; brand owned by

elsewhere) * Prima * R1 * Regal *

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

* Rodeo (in

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

) * Route 66 * Royale * Salem (in the United States; brand owned by

elsewhere) * Superkings * USA Gold *

* Winston (in the United States; brand owned by Japan Tobacco elsewhere) * Woodbine

Other tobacco and nicotine products

Fine-cut tobacco

* Bali Shag * Champion Legendary *

* Players Gold Leaf * Van Nelle

Rolling papers

RizLa+ Rizla (), commercially styled Rizla+. (), is a French brand of rolling paper. The company was sold in 1997 to Imperial Brands, Imperial Tobacco. The name "Rizla" came in 1886 (''riz'' being the French word for "rice" and ''La+'' an abbreviati ...

Tally-Ho Tally-ho is a phrase used in hunting. Tally Ho and Tallyho may refer to: Places * Tally-Ho Plantation House, a home in Louisiana * Tally Ho Township in Granville County, North Carolina * Tally Ho, Victoria, a locality within the suburb of Burw ...

* White Ox

Snus

* Skruf Snus

Vapes

* blu * Pulze and iD * Zone

Gallery

File:Fortuna cigarettes (Spain) - front.jpg, Fortuna cigarettes packet File:Gauloises Blondes.JPG, Packets of Gauloises Blondes cigarettes File:Drum Original Tobacco.jpg, A packet of Drum tobacco File:LEXMARK-SCAN 005.jpg, Rizla+ King Size Silver Slims File:Skruf.JPG, Skruf snus

Operations

The Nottingham factory and the group's French factory in

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

closed in 2016, with production moved to Eastern Europe.

Controversies

In May 2022, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' reported that the company had lobbied politicians in Scotland.

Ivan McKee Ivan Paul McKee (born September 1963) is a Scottish politician who has served as Minister for Public Finance since May 2024. He previously served as Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise from 2021 to 2023. A member of the Sco ...

, the trade minister, was the highest-ranking government official who had met with the executives from Imperial Brands: he met them twice in 2018.

Notes

References

External links

*
Imperial Tobacco
(archived, 22 Jul 2008) * {{Portal bar, Companies, United Kingdom British companies established in 1901 Tobacco companies of the United Kingdom 1996 initial public offerings Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Manufacturing companies established in 1901 Manufacturing companies based in Bristol Multinational companies headquartered in England Companies in the FTSE 100 Index