LONDON.- British American Tobacco presented this Friday a bid to acquire the american company Reynolds American for 47 billion dollars, in a deal that would concentrate on the brands of cigarettes Newport, Kent and Pall Mall in most tobacco in the world with operations on the stock exchange.
The purchase would offer the BAT a leading position in the valuable Us market and would add to its portfolio more premium brands such as Camel, which can be sold in countries such as Russia and Turkey, where the demand for cigarettes in the West is still growing.
The british group, which has a stake of 42 per cent in Reynolds, said its offer values the company’s shares at 56.50 usd, of which 24.13 dollars would be paid in cash and 32.37 dollars in titles of BAT.
This represents a premium of 20 percent over the closing price of the papers of Reynolds on Thursday.
The total price of the 57.8 percent of Reynolds that still does not control would amount to 47 billion dollars, of which approximately 20 billion would be paid in cash and $ 27 billion cancelled in the securities of BAT, according to the tobacco-british.
The chief executive of BAT, Nicandro Durante, said that the agreement would create a leader in the u.s. market, to become the largest tobacco business in the bag by operating profits and net sales.
“The rational strategy makes perfect sense,” said Guy Ellison, analyst at Investec Wealth & Investment.
The agreement will get nearer to BAT the renowned american market, consolidating renowned brands, and the position of Reynolds in “the tobacco of the next generation”, as e-cigarettes, he added.
The cost of the synergies associated with the merger proposal was estimated by BAT as a relatively modest, around $ 400 million. Reynolds, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, you must still respond to the unsolicited offer.
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