The board of Franco-Spanish tobacco company Altadis yesterday rejected Imperial Tobacco’s raised take over bid, saying the offer of € 47 per share (US$ 62.85) does not "reflect the strategic value of the company".

On 14 March, Britain-based Imperial Tobacco made an indicative offer worth € 45 per share with a view to a potential cash offer for 100 per cent of Altadis, the company which makes Gauloises, Gitanes and Ducados cigarette brands. The offer was raised to Euro 47 a share, valuing the business at € 12.03 billion (US$ 16.09 billion), 
Imperial Tobacco, the maker of Regal, Lambert & Butler, Davidoff cigarettes and Golden Virginia rolling tobacco, confirmed that it made a revised proposal and said in a statement that it considered it a full and fair price. The company also said it requested access to limited due diligence information in order to establish whether there may be additional value which it had not taken into account in its revised proposal, but this was rejected by the Altadis board.
Analysts said Altadis' rejection was unlikely to be the end of it, with some expecting a higher offer to come. Altadis is considered a highly attractive take over target as its main divisions – cigarettes, cigars and logistics – could be sold separately.