Imperial Tobacco, the maker of Davidoff and Lambert & Butler cigarettes, has tabled a £7.6 billion offer for Altadis, the Franco-Spanish tobacco group.

The offer from the world's fourth largest cigarette maker for the no 5 player, maker of Gauloises, was described by Imperial as a "friendly approach" although Altadis appeared unaware of it until today.

Imperial is offering €45 a share for Altadis but cautioned that discussions were at an early stage and that there was no certainty an offer would be made.

Shares in Imperial, whose brands also include Superkings, rose swiftly on the news and closed at 2,222p, up 175p.

BACKGROUND

• Imperial gets fired up over Altadis bid

• Imperial snubbed as Altadis opens books

• Imperial’s investors back bigger rights issue

• Imperial Tobacco bids £7.6 billion for Altadis

• New laws could stub out Imperial’s US hopes

Davis launches great tobacco merger

An Imperial-Altadis deal is logical. The company wants Altadis’s stable of brands, ranging from Gauloises Blondes to Cohiba and Montecristo

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The company has been on the lookout for further deals following its £1 billion acquisition last month of Commonwealth Brands, of the US, and has been consistently touted as a potential suitor for Altadis.

Speculation has also grown following the recent takeover of Gallaher by Japan Tobacco, which created a tobacco giant of roughly equal size to Imperial.

The Spanish stock market regulator had said this morning that it was suspending trade in Altadis shares, pending a statement. It also suspended trading in Logista, the logistics firm that is majority-owned by Altadis, amid suggestions that the company was about to sell a 60 per cent stake for up to €1.3 billion (£890 million).

The approach from Imperial follows reports earlier this week that Imperial had approached Altadis regarding a friendly merger, which would head off a potentially hostile bid from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, the private equity firm.

Altadis had dismissed the rumours as “groundless”.

It has been suggested that KKR has been mulling an offer for Altadis, with the aim of breaking it up and selling its cigarette and logistics divisions to the Gallaher Group, of the UK.

However, Altadis has asserted that it is a buyer of assets and not a takeover target, and has insisted it will not sell any of its three units.

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