British American Tobacco history

Operating in the country for more than 100 years, the company’s official history began with the creation of the United Tobacco Company in 1904.

In 1911, the American Tobacco Company sold its share of the company.

Under the management of James Augustus Thomas from Lawsonville, in North Carolina's Rockingham County, by 1919 the Shanghai factory was producing more than 243 million cigarettes per week.

Sir Hugo held those positions until Duke retired in 1923 (and died two years later) and then succeeded him as chairman.

In 1927 British-American Tobacco reentered the American market by acquiring the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation, a small tobacco company that grew to become one of the largest cigarette manufacturers in the United States with such brands as Kool and Viceroy.

Although the company's earning power dropped after 1929, BAT nevertheless was able to consolidate its position as the world's only true international tobacco firm.

At its peak in 1937, BAT manufactured and distributed 55 billion cigarettes in China.

The 1949 communist revolution in China, meanwhile, led to the loss of the company's largest market, and other major setbacks were experienced in Egypt, Indonesia, and India.

In 1953 the company was ejected from China following the foundation of the People’s Republic.

By 1962, British American Tobacco's capitalization was such that it was able to begin major moves toward diversification.

1965: British American Tobacco, Ltd. begins to acquire perfume houses and department stores.

In 1970 British-American Tobacco acquired majority control of Wiggins Teape Limited, a paper-products manufacturer.

Beginning in 1971 it began investing in American department-store chains, eventually buying Marshall Field and Company and Saks Fifth Avenue.

1976: Heidelberg Factory is established as a social upliftment project in an area with low economic growth.

Appleton Papers was added to the BAT operation in 1978.

Gimbels and Saks Fifth Avenue were acquired in the United States, Kohl's and Department Stores International in the United Kingdom, and Argos, the British catalog store, joined in 1979.

According to Sherman Cochran (1980), the company's success in China resulted from its decision not to dump surplus goods, but to invest in the creation of an efficient and vertically-integrated company.

Within two years of his 1982 accession to BAT's chairmanship, Patrick Sheehy decided to add a fourth leg to BAT's existing three supports.

Hambro Life Assurance, another large British firm, became Allied Dunbar when it was acquired by BAT in 1985.

In 1986, only 50 percent of BAT's pre-tax profit came from its tobacco group.

In fact, BAT Industries saw a 26 percent rise in pre-tax profit during the first half of 1987, 45 percent of which was due to Eagle Star.

1988: BAT expands its financial services and acquires Farmer's Group Inc. in the United States.

In 1989 the company repulsed an audacious takeover bid by Hoylake Investments, a consortium of financiers led by James Goldsmith, but the event signaled the end of BAT's almost thirty-year campaign of diversification.

Sir James' proposed buyout failed in May 1990, when California insurance regulators refused to approve his acquisition of the insurance company, Farmer's Group.

In 1993 the company sold one of its financial properties, Eagle Star Levin N.V.

Using the cash proceeds from these sales, BAT began in 1994 to purchase numerous tobacco properties throughout the world.

With its increasing focus on the tobacco business, B.A.T was renamed British American Tobacco PLC in 1998.

In 1999 it merged with Rothmans International, which included a share in a factory in Burma.

In 2000, the company acquired Canada's dominant tobacco company, Imasco.

In 2002, BAT lost a lawsuit about the right to sell cigarettes under the Marlboro brand name in the UK. It had acquired Rothmans, which had previously bought a licence to use the name from Philip Morris.

In 2003, BAT acquired Ente Tabacchi Italiani (ETI) S.p.A., Italy's state tobacco company.

In January 2007, BAT closed its remaining UK production plant in Southampton with the loss of over 600 jobs.

Then in 2008 BAT acquired Turkey's state-owned cigarette maker Tekel.

Chief Operating Officer Jack Bowles, who joined BAT’s Management Board in 2009, is announced as his successor.

In May 2011 BAT acquired the Colombian company Productora Tabacalera de Colombia S.A.S. (Protabaco).

In October 2015 BAT acquired the Croatian tobacco company TDR d.o.o.

In October 2016, BAT offered to buy the remaining 57.8 percent of United States cigarette maker Reynolds American in a $47 billion takeover that would create the world's biggest listed tobacco company with brands including Newport, Lucky Strike and Pall Mall.

In January 2017, Reynolds agreed to an increased $49.4 billion deal.

BAT is one of just 13 companies to be recognised as a Global Top Employer 2018 by the Top Employers Institute.

After nearly 37 years with BAT, and eight as CEO Nicandro Durante informs the Board of his intention to retire in 2019.

In 2020, BAT was certified as a Proudly South African company and is the only remaining large-scale local tobacco manufacturer in the country.