Imperial Tobacco is a global tobacco

Tobacco

Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...

 company headquartered in Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

, United Kingdom. It is the world’s fourth-largest cigarette company measured by market share (after Philip Morris International

Philip Morris International

Philip Morris International is an international tobacco company, with products sold in over 160 countries. In 2007, it held a 15.6% share of the international cigarette market outside of the USA and reported revenues net of excise taxes of $22.8 billion and operating income of $8.9 billion.Until...

, British American Tobacco

British American Tobacco

British American Tobacco p.l.c. is a global tobacco company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s second largest quoted tobacco company by global market share , with a leading position in more than 50 countries and a presence in more than 180 countries...

 and Japan Tobacco

Japan Tobacco

, abbreviated JT, is a cigarette manufacturing company. It is part of the Nikkei 225 index. In 2009 the company was listed at number 312 on the Fortune 500 list. The company is headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo. The international headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland.-History:The company...

), and the world's largest producer of cigars, fine-cut tobacco

Shag (tobacco)

Shag, also known as rolling tobacco and loose tobacco is fine-cut tobacco used to make self-made cigarettes by hand rolling the tobacco into rolling paper or injecting it into filter tubes. It got its name from the finely cut strands appearing like 'shag' and was originally considered poor quality...

 and tobacco papers. It produces over 320 billion cigarettes per year, has 51 factories worldwide and its products are sold in over 160 countries. Its brands include Davidoff

Davidoff

Davidoff is a Swiss luxury tobacco goods brand name, which is carried by a range of products including cigars, cigarettes and pipe tobaccos. Its cigarette brand is currently owned by Imperial Tobacco but the company is otherwise independently owned....

, West

West (cigarette)

West is a German tobacco brand owned by the British company Imperial Tobacco.The cigarettes are available in most European Union countries except the UK and Ireland. The brand is sold in over 90 countries worldwide.-History:...

, Gauloises Blondes, Montecristo, Drum

Drum (tobacco)

Drum is a brand of fine-cut handrolling tobacco, or shag. It was originally produced and distributed by the Douwe Egberts corporation. Douwe Egberts was purchased by the Sara Lee Corporation, which sold Drum to Imperial Tobacco, the current British producer...

 (the world's second-largest-selling fine-cut tobacco) and Rizla

Rizla

RizLa+ , known in English as Rizla is a brand of rolling papers and cigarette tubes or blanks in which tobacco is rolled or stuffed to form handmade cigarettes....

 (the world’s best-selling rolling paper).

Imperial Tobacco is listed on the London Stock Exchange

London Stock Exchange

The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...

 and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index

FTSE 100 Index

The FTSE 100 Index, also called FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the footsie , is a share index of the 100 most highly capitalised UK companies listed on the London Stock Exchange....

.
The Imperial Tobacco Company was created in 1901 through the amalgamation of thirteen British tobacco and cigarette companies: W.D. & H.O. Wills

W.D. & H.O. Wills

W.D. & H.O. Wills was a British tobacco importer and cigarette manufacturer formed in Bristol, England. It was one of the founding companies of Imperial Tobacco.-History:...

 of Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

 (the leading manufacturer of tobacco-based products at that time), John Player & Sons

John Player & Sons

John Player & Sons, known simply as Player's, was a tobacco and cigarette manufacturer based in Nottingham, England. It is today a part of the Imperial Tobacco Group.-History:...

 of Nottingham

Nottingham

Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...

 and 11 other independent family businesses, which were being threatened by competition from the United States in the form of James Buchanan Duke

James Buchanan Duke

James Buchanan Duke was a U.S. tobacco and electric power industrialist best known for his involvement with Duke University.-Personal life:...

 and his American Tobacco Company

American Tobacco Company

The American Tobacco Company was a tobacco company founded in 1890 by J. B. Duke through a merger between a number of U.S. tobacco manufacturers including Allen and Ginter and Goodwin & Company...

.