BAT agrees to buy Reynolds for $49 billion

[nitpicker]

http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-reynolds-amricn-m-a-brit-am-tobacco-idUKKBN1510LW

Deals | Tue Jan 17, 2017 | 9:51am GMT

BAT agrees to buy Reynolds for $49 billion

By Paul Sandle | LONDON

British American Tobacco (BATS.L) has agreed a $49.4 billion takeover of U.S. rival Reynolds American Inc (RAI.N), creating the world's biggest listed tobacco company after it increased an earlier offer by more than $2 billion. BAT, which already owned 42 percent of Reynolds, will pay $29.44 in cash and 0.5260 BAT shares for each Reynolds share, it said, a 26 percent premium over the price of the stock on Oct. 20, the day before BAT's first offer was made public. Reynolds, the maker of Camel and Newport cigarettes, rejected the approach a month later, according to sources, although the two sides remained in talks.

The deal, which values the whole of Reynolds at around $86 billion, will mark the return of BAT to the lucrative and highly regulated U.S. market after a 12-year absence, making it the only tobacco giant with a leading presence in American and international markets.

BAT Chief Executive Nicandro Durante said bringing the two companies together would create a market leader with brands including Newport, Lucky Strike, Camel and Pall Mall.
(snip)

Analysts have said the takeover could spark further deals as Philip Morris International (PM.N) and Japan Tobacco (2914.T) jostle for market share in an industry that is shrinking in the West as more people quit smoking.

Durante said the combined group would have the largest global footprint of any tobacco group, with strong positions in both fast-growing emerging markets and lucrative Western countries.
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[democratisphere]

1. More monopolies converting to mega-monopolies so the filthy rich

can become stinking filthy richer and competition is eliminated. This planet becomes more f'ed up with each passing day.