The Development Experience of Imperial Tobacco Company

The first 20 years of the 20th century was the period when ITG consolidated its corporate foundation. After World War I, ITG ushered in a new era of company development. But for most of the 20th century, ITG's main business was in Britain. It was not until the end of 1990s that the company began to expand overseas and gradually became a typical multinational enterprise.

Since 1960s, ITG has implemented diversification strategy, and through acquisition, it has successively entered the fields of food, plastic products, instruments, printing, brewing, hotels and so on.

1973, the company changed its name to Imperial Group Co., Ltd., while retaining the original name of Tobacco Division of the Group. By 1979, the total number of employees in the group reached 65,438+10,000. This year, the Group adjusted its operational framework and established five business units, namely, tobacco, paper, food, distribution and general trade.

198 1 under the situation of declining tobacco market, the company has made major adjustments to its tobacco business, and adopted a series of measures, such as strengthening the strength of the company's headquarters, closing the merged factory, introducing new technologies, and adjusting the distribution organization layout, to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

1985, Hansen successfully acquired the Imperial Group and took over the Imperial business in April of the following year. During the control period of Hansen Group, through further adjustment, the capacity of Imperial tobacco business increased by three times, the number of brands decreased by 60%, the operating efficiency improved and the market share increased. 1990 has established the strategy of becoming the most efficient tobacco manufacturer in Europe, and is actively preparing to expand the international market.

From 65438 to 0996, Imperial Tobacco was separated from Hansen Group and became an independent tobacco manufacturer, which was listed on the London Stock Exchange. At this time, Imperial Tobacco Company has become the largest tobacco producer in Britain, with an annual cigarette sales of 200 billion cigarettes.

After 1996, ITG began to expand into the international market. ITG mainly realizes its internationalization strategy through acquisition, and has successively completed a series of acquisition activities in Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Belgium and other countries and regions. The most significant one is the acquisition of Reemtsma in 2002, which greatly expanded the company's business scale, especially in the overseas tobacco market, making ITG the fourth largest tobacco company in the world after Altria, British American Tobacco and Nippon Tobacco.