British American Tobaco
Introduction
British American Tobacco plc (informally BAT) is a British multinational tobacco company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s second-largest tobacco company by sales (after Philip Morris International).
BAT has a market-leading position in over 50 countries and operations in around 180 countries. Its four largest-selling brands are Dunhill, Lucky Strike, Kent and Pall Mall, with others including Kool, Benson & Hedges and Rothmans.
BAT has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. As of 6 July 2012 it had a market capitalisation of £65.6 billion, the sixth-largest of any company listed on the London Stock Exchange. It has a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
History
1902 to 2000
The company was formed in 1902, when the United Kingdom's Imperial Tobacco Company and the American Tobacco Company of the USA agreed to form a joint venture, the British-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. James 'Buck' Duke became its chairman and the British American Tobacco business began life in countries as diverse as Canada, China, Germany, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, but not in the United Kingdom or USA.
In China, BAT inherited a factory in the Pudong district of Shanghai from W.D. & H.O. Wills, one of the precursor companies of Imperial Tobacco. Under the management of James Augustus Thomas from Rockingham, North Carolina, USA, by 1919 the Shanghai factory was producing more than 243 million cigarettes per week. Thomas worked closely with the local Wing Tai Vo Tobacco Company, which developed into BAT's principal Chinese partner after its success with the "Ruby Queen" cigarette brand.
In 1911 the American Tobacco Company sold its share of the company. Imperial Tobacco gradually reduced its
British American Tobacco plc (informally BAT) is a British multinational tobacco company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s second-largest tobacco company by sales (after Philip Morris International).
BAT has a market-leading position in over 50 countries and operations in around 180 countries. Its four largest-selling brands are Dunhill, Lucky Strike, Kent and Pall Mall, with others including Kool, Benson & Hedges and Rothmans.
BAT has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. As of 6 July 2012 it had a market capitalisation of £65.6 billion, the sixth-largest of any company listed on the London Stock Exchange. It has a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
History
1902 to 2000
The company was formed in 1902, when the United Kingdom's Imperial Tobacco Company and the American Tobacco Company of the USA agreed to form a joint venture, the British-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. James 'Buck' Duke became its chairman and the British American Tobacco business began life in countries as diverse as Canada, China, Germany, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, but not in the United Kingdom or USA.
In China, BAT inherited a factory in the Pudong district of Shanghai from W.D. & H.O. Wills, one of the precursor companies of Imperial Tobacco. Under the management of James Augustus Thomas from Rockingham, North Carolina, USA, by 1919 the Shanghai factory was producing more than 243 million cigarettes per week. Thomas worked closely with the local Wing Tai Vo Tobacco Company, which developed into BAT's principal Chinese partner after its success with the "Ruby Queen" cigarette brand.
In 1911 the American Tobacco Company sold its share of the company. Imperial Tobacco gradually reduced its