London-based Imperial Tobacco Group is considering a Euro 10 billion bid for its Franco-Spanish rival Altadis SA, reported The Business, a weekly magazine, yesterday.

Imperial Tobacco, which has a relatively small share of the French and Spanish tobacco markets, has long been tipped as a potential bidder for Altadis as it wouldn't face the regulatory hurdles of larger rivals such as Philips Morris and British American Tobacco in case of a takeover. Imperial Tobacco declined to comment.
Imperial Tobacco is the fifth largest cigarette producing company worldwide with a market capitalization of 13.5 billion pounds. Altadis, based in Madrid, owns the Gauloises Blondes and Gitanes cigarette brands, along with cigar brands Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta and Te-Amo.