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 Imperial Brands offices in Bristol, April 2014 | |
| Imperial Tobacco | |
| Formerly | Imperial Tobacco Company of Great Britain & Ireland (1901–1996) Imperial Tobacco Group plc. (1996–2016)[1] |
| Company type | Public |
| LSE: IMB FTSE 100 Component | |
| Industry | Tobacco |
| Predecessor | W.D. & H.O. Wills |
| Founded | 1901; 125 years ago (1901) |
| Headquarters | Bristol, England |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | List
|
| Products |
|
| Revenue |  £32.171 billion (2025)[2] |
| £3.490 billion (2025)[2] | |
| £2.220 billion (2025)[2] | |
Number of employees | 25,800 (2025)[2] |
| Subsidiaries |
|
| Website | imperialbrandsplc |
| Footnotes / references Carcinogenicity:IARC group 1 | |
Imperial Brands plc., still commonly known by its former name (and nowtrade name)Imperial Tobacco,[a] is a Britishmultinationaltobacco company headquartered inBristol, England.[4] It is the world's fourth-largest international cigarette company measured by market share (afterPhilip Morris International,British American Tobacco andJapan Tobacco) and the world's largest producer offine-cut tobacco andtobacco papers.[5] Imperial Brands is listed on theLondon Stock Exchange and is a constituent of theFTSE 100 Index.[6]
Imperial Brands has 30 factories worldwide and its products are sold in around 120 countries.[7] Its tobacco brands includeDavidoff,West,Golden Virginia,Drum andRizla.[8] Imperial Brands's alternativenicotine products include theblu brand ofelectronic cigarettes, the Pulze and iD brands ofheated tobacco systems, and the Zone X andSkruf brands ofnicotine pouches.
Imperial Tobacco Canada is the Canadian subsidiary of British American Tobacco, and has no relationship to Imperial Brands. Similarly,Imperial Tobacco Company of India (now known asITC Limited) is a separate company and has no relationship to Imperial Brands.
The Imperial Tobacco Company was created in 1901, in response to the price war in the British market promoted byJames Buchanan Duke'sAmerican Tobacco Company. It amalgamated 13 British tobacco and cigarette companies:W.D. & H.O. Wills ofBristol (the leading manufacturer of tobacco products at that time),John Player & Sons ofNottingham,Stephen Mitchell & Son ofGlasgow, and 10 other independent family businesses.[9][10] The other, smaller companies, involved in the amalgamation includedLambert & 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. The printing and packaging firm Mardon, Son & Hall was absorbed in 1902. In 1904, James & Finlay Bell Ltd was merged into the Stephen Mitchell & Son branch. The company's first chairman wasWilliam Henry Wills of the Wills Company.[9]
In 1902, the Imperial Tobacco Company and the American Tobacco Company agreed to form a joint venture: theBritish-American Tobacco Company Ltd. The parent companies agreed not to trade in each other's domestic territory and to assign trademarks, export businesses, and overseas subsidiaries to the joint venture.[11][12]
Imperial extended the tobacco-growing enterprises in the United States that W.D. & H.O. Wills had developed before the amalgamation of 1901. It also established its own leaf-buying organisation in the US based at the Imperial Tobacco Warehouse inDurham, North Carolina; this is now owned, and has been renovated byMeasurement Incorporated. It built theImperial Tobacco Company Building atMullins, South Carolina, between 1908 and 1913.[13]
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.[9] 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.[14]
In 1986, the company was acquired by the conglomerateHanson Trust plc for £2.5 billion.[15] Divestments during the period of ownership by Hanson includedCourage Brewery toElders,Golden Wonder toDalgety, Finlays to Arunbhai J. Patel, the wholesaling arm of Sinclair & Collis to Palmer & Harvey, Imperial Hotels and Catering toTrust House Forte andRoss Frozen Foods toUnited Biscuits. This also led to a dispute over pension payments to employees, as seen inImperial Group Pension Trust Ltd v Imperial Tobacco Ltd.[16] 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.[17]
In 2003, Imperial acquired the world's then fourth-largest tobacco company,Reemtsma Cigarettenfabriken GmbH of Germany: the deal added brands such asDavidoff,Peter Stuyvesant, andWest to its portfolio.[18] 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.[19] In February 2008, Imperial acquired the world's then fifth-largest tobacco company,Altadis, whose brands includedFortuna,Gauloises Blondes, andGitanes.[20] A number of factory closures were subsequently announced, including the longstanding cigar factory in Bristol.[21]
Following theScottish Parliament'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 theHouses of Parliament inWestminster. This case was dismissed on 30 September 2010 byLord Bracadale in theCourt of Session inEdinburgh.[22]
In 2011, Altadis USA Inc. said it would add to itsFort Lauderdale, Florida, headquarters and move Commonwealth Brands Inc. employees fromBowling Green, Kentucky.[23] The company's name changed to Commonwealth-Altadis Inc.[24]
In 2013, Imperial opened a new global headquarters in Bristol.[25]
In April 2014, Imperial announced the closure of its long-running Horizon factory inNottingham. The factory closed in 2016, marking the end of cigarette production in England.[26]
On 15 July 2014,Reynolds American agreed to buyGreensboro, North Carolina–basedLorillard Tobacco Company for $27.4 billion.[27] The deal also included the sale of theKool,Winston,Salem, andblu eCigs brands to Imperial for $7.1 billion.[28] In November 2014, Imperial said Commonwealth-Altadis and the Lorillard operations being acquired would be calledITG Brands LLC.[29] The deal with Lorillard was completed on 12 June 2015, and as part of the deal, Greensboro became the location of the ITG headquarters.[30] On 1 November 2018, ITG announced production would move from the formerAmerican Tobacco Company plant inReidsville, North Carolina, built in 1892, and later expanded, to Greensboro by 2020. The plant madeUSA Gold, Sonoma, Montclair and Rave.[31]
In February 2016, Imperial changed its name to "Imperial Brands" to distance itself from tobacco.[32]
In 2018, a subsidiary, Imperial Brands Ventures, took a stake in Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies which is licensed by theUK government to develop cannabis-based medicines.[33]
In November 2019, after searching for a new chairman since February, the company announced its senior independent director Thérèse Esperdy would take the role.[34]
In July 2020,Stefan Bomhard, the former chief executive of global automotive distributorInchcape and former president ofBacardi Europe, became chief executive of Imperial Brands.[35]
In 2021, Imperial Brands opened an office in Hammersmith, West London.[4] 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.[36]
In 2022 and 2023, Imperial Brands launched blu 2.0, an upgrade to its blu vaping device, in the UK and several other countries.[37]
The principal companies involved in setting up Imperial Tobacco wereW. D. & H. O. Wills Limited andJohn Player & Sons ofNottingham.Bristol Archives holds extensive records of W D & H O Wills and Imperial Tobacco (Ref. 38169).[38]Nottinghamshire Archives hold the John Player and Sons collections (main ref. DD/PL).[39] The archives atLiverpool Central Library hold records of the Ogden Branch (Ref. 380 OGD).[40]
The company's brands include:[41]
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The Nottingham factory and the group's French factory inNantes closed in 2016, with production moved to Eastern Europe.[42]
In May 2022,The Times reported that the company had lobbied politicians in Scotland.Ivan McKee, the trade minister, was the highest-ranking government official who had met with the executives from Imperial Brands: he met them twice in 2018.[43]
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1Australia only;2Brands ofHabanos, a 50:50 joint venture between Imperial Tobacco andCubatabaco;350% share;4formerly, "Commonwealth Brands" | |||||||
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| Other | |
