company imperial tobacco redirects here . for the canadian company see imperial tobacco canada . imperial brands plc type public limited company traded as lse imb otcqx imbby otcqx itybf industry tobacco founded 1901 ; 115 years ago 1901 headquarters bristol united kingdom area served worldwide key people mark williamson chairman alison cooper ceo products cigarettes cigars fine cut rolling tobacco snuff rolling papers and tubes revenue 25.289 billion 2015 1 operating income 1.988 billion 2015 1 net income 1.723 billion 2015 1 number of employees 36 400 2015 1 subsidiaries fontem ventures imperial tobacco itg brands logista tabacalera 2 website www.imperialbrandsplc.com imperial brands plc formerly imperial tobacco group plc is a british multinational tobacco company headquartered in bristol united kingdom . it is the world s fourth largest international cigarette company measured by market share after philip morris international british american tobacco and japan tobacco and the world s largest producer of cigars fine cut tobacco and tobacco papers . 3 imperial brands produces over 320 billion cigarettes per year has 51 factories worldwide and its products are sold in over 160 countries . 4 its brands include davidoff west gauloises blondes montecristo golden virginia the world s largest selling hand rolling tobacco drum the world s second largest selling fine cut tobacco and rizla the world s best selling rolling paper . 5 imperial brands is listed on the london stock exchange and is a constituent of the ftse 100 index . it had a market capitalisation around 24.3 billion as of 23 december 2011 the 19th largest of any company with a primary listing on the london stock exchange . 6 imperial tobacco canada has no relationship to imperial tobacco group plc. imperial tobacco canada is the canadian subsidiary of british american tobacco . contents 1 history 1.1 1901 to 2000 1.2 2000 to present 2 archives 3 products 3.1 cigarettes 3.2 other 4 operations 4.1 senior management 5 references 6 external links history edit 1901 to 2000 edit a 2 ounce 57 g tin for j & f bell three nuns tobacco the imperial tobacco company was created in 1901 through the amalgamation of 13 british tobacco and cigarette companies w.d. & h.o. wills of bristol the leading manufacturer of tobacco products at that time john player & sons of nottingham and 11 other independent family businesses which were in competition with companies from the united states by the american tobacco company . 7 8 first w. d. & h. o. wills of bristol merged with stephen mitchell & son of glasgow . subsequently other smaller companies including lambert & butler william clarke & son franklyn davey edwards ringer & bigg hignett brothers hignett s tobacco adkins & sons richmond cavendish d & j macdoland and f & j smith joined in the amalgamation . in 1904 james & finlay bell ltd merged with stephen mitchell & son . the company s first chairman was william henry wills of the wills company . 7 in 1902 the imperial tobacco company and the american tobacco company agreed to form a joint venture the british american tobacco company ltd. 7 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 . it built the imperial tobacco company building at mullins south carolina between 1908 and 1913 . 9 american tobacco sold its share in 1911 but imperial maintained an interest in british american tobacco until 1980 . 7 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 . 10 in 1910 imperial tobacco formed the imperial tobacco company of india . in 1985 the company acquired the peoples drugstore chain and all subsidiaries from a. c. israel . 11 in 1986 the company was acquired by the conglomerate hanson trust plc for 2.5 billion . 12 divestments during the period of ownership by hanson included courage brewery to elders golden wonder to dalgety finlays to a j patel the wholesaling arm of sinclair & collis to palmer & harvey imperial hotels and catering to trust house forte and ross frozen foods to united biscuits . this also led to a dispute over pension payments to employees as seen in imperial group pension trust ltd v imperial tobacco ltd. 13 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 . 14 2000 to present edit imperial brands head office in bristol the reemtsma head office in hamburg germany in 2003 imperial acquired the world s then fourth largest tobacco company reemtsma cigarettenfabriken gmbh of germany the deal added brands such as davidoff peter stuyvesant and west to its portfolio . 15 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 . 16 in february 2008 imperial acquired the world s then fifth largest tobacco company altadis whose brands included fortuna gauloises blondes and gitanes . 17 a number of factory closures were subsequently announced including the long running cigar factory in bristol . 18 following the scottish 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 autumn 2011 imperial tobacco attempted to challenge the change in the law on the grounds that regulations of the sale goods rested with the houses of parliament in westminster . however this case was dismissed on 30 september 2010 by lord bracadale in the court of session in edinburgh . 19 logo as imperial tobacco in 2011 altadis usa inc. said it would add to its fort lauderdale florida headquarters and move commonwealth brands inc. employees from bowling green kentucky . 20 the company s name changed to commonwealth altadis inc. 21 in 2013 imperial opened a new global headquarters in bristol . 22 in april 2014 imperial announced the closure of its long running factory in nottingham 23 on 15 july 2014 reynolds american agreed to buy greensboro north carolina based lorillard tobacco company for 27.4 billion . 24 the deal also included the sale of the kool winston salem and blu ecigs brands to imperial for 7.1 billion . 25 in november 2014 imperial said commonwealth altadis and the lorillard operations being acquired would be called itg brands llc . 26 the deal with lorillard was completed on 12 june 2015 and as part of the deal greensboro became the location of the itg headquarters . 27 in february 2016 imperial changed its name to imperial brands to reflect the growing importance of the company s other businesses . 28 archives edit the principal companies involved in setting up imperial tobacco were w d & h o wills limited and john player & sons of nottingham . bristol record office holds extensive records of w d & h o wills and imperial tobacco ref . 38169 online catalogue . nottinghamshire archives hold the john player and sons collections main ref . dd pl online catalogue . the archives at liverpool central library hold records of the ogden branch ref . 380 ogd online catalogue products edit the company s brands include cigarettes edit all jti products in australia camel more mevius etc. ducados brandon s carlton crowns davidoff embassy escort british american tobacco s old products excellence fortuna gauloises gitanes john player & sons john player best kool lambert & butler because imperial tobacco does not own the trademark on the original name lambert & butler is known in some countries as l & b or great & british mark fernyhough maverick moon parker & simpson peter stuyvesant with british american tobacco prima r1 regal richmond rodeo in macedonia route 66 royale salem with japan tobacco superkings usa gold west winston with japan tobacco woodbine a packet of fortuna cigarettes packets of gauloises blondes cigarettes a montecristo cigar other edit bali shag premium fine cut tobacco drum fine cut tobacco golden virginia fine cut tobacco players gold leaf fine cut tobacco champion legendary ruby fine cut tobacco rizla rolling paper tally ho rolling paper skruf snus van nelle fine cut tobacco a packet of drum tobacco rizla king size silver slims operations edit the nottingham factory and the group s french factory in nantes are scheduled to close in 2016 with production moved to eastern europe . 29 senior management edit imperial brands chairman is mark williamson . the company s operating executive currently comprises the following 30 alison miles chief executive helen clatworthy business transformation director peter corijn group marketing director fernando dominguez premium cigar director andy newall group human resources director matthew phillips corporate affairs director walter prinz group manufacturing supply and research & development director oliver tant chief financial officer references edit a b c d annual report 2015 pdf . imperial tobacco . retrieved 25 march 2016 . our companies imperial brands . alison cooper lighting up imperial tobacco . london the telegraph . 21 march 2010 . retrieved 14 march 2014 . corporate fact file pdf . imperial tobacco group plc. retrieved 4 september 2010 . international strategic brands . imperial tobacco group plc. archived from the original on 28 february 2009 . retrieved 4 september 2010 . ftse all share index ranking . stockchallenge.co.uk . retrieved 26 december 2011 . a b c d imperial tobacco history formation . imperial tobacco . retrieved 15 march 2015 . stead w. t. 1901 . the americanization of the world . horace markley . pp. 379 380 . imperial tobacco company building pdf . national register of historic places nomination and inventory . n.d. retrieved 22 february 2014 . imperial tobacco history diversification . imperial tobacco . retrieved 15 march 2015 . chain drug review 14 march 1988 lane being converted to the peoples name imperial tobacco history the hanson years . imperial tobacco . retrieved 15 march 2015 . 1991 1 wlr 589 imperial tobacco history the company today . imperial tobacco . retrieved 15 march 2015 . bbc news business imperial buys top german cigarette maker . bbc.co.uk . retrieved 15 march 2015 . bruce schreiner houchens expanding at a rapid pace company has evolved since kentucky start associated press 24 december 2007 imperial tobacco to buy altadis for 17bn . new york times . 19 july 2007 . retrieved 15 march 2015 . imperial tobacco group plc media news imperial tobacco group plc announces european integration restructuring projects 19 june 2008 . imperial tobacco.com . retrieved 29 october 2015 . tobacco firm loses legal battle . bbc news . 30 september 2010 . cigar company to create 55 jobs in fort lauderdale . sun sentinel . 29 june 2011 . p. 1d . 9 to 5 news . daily news . 7 december 2011 . new ultra green offices reflect company ethos . bristol post . 12 july 2013 . retrieved 10 march 2014 . imperial tobacco to close nottingham factory . nottingham post . 15 april 2015 . retrieved 29 october 2015 . bray michael j. de la merced and chad . to compete with altria reynolds american is buying lorillard . mangan dan 15 july 2014 . feeling blu e cig company spun off in major tobacco deal . cnbc . craver richard 6 november 2014 . imperial tobacco chooses name for proposed expanded u.s. subsidiary . winston salem journal . p. a9 . craver richard 16 june 2015 . itg s florida workforce not moving to greensboro . winston salem journal . retrieved 26 june 2015 . imperial tobacco is rebranding to imperial brands . city am . 5 february 2016 . retrieved 25 march 2016 . imperial tobacco to cut jobs and shut factories in uk and