JT keen to complete Santa Fe deal this week

Japan Tobacco Inc. is in the final stages of negotiations to buy Reynolds American Inc.’s Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company subsidiary, possibly excluding the US rights to the Natural American Spirit brand, according to a Nikkei Asian Review (NAR) story relayed by the TMA.

JT is said to be aiming to reach an agreement on the deal, thought to be worth about US$5 billion, sometime this week.

The NAR said that JT was hoping to accelerate its global growth by obtaining the marketing rights for Santa Fe’s Natural American Spirit.

JT has used acquisitions to start and expand its overseas cigarette business, starting with the 1999 purchase of RJR Nabisco’s non-US operations.

The Santa Fe deal would be JT’s biggest acquisition since its 2007 purchase of the UK-based Gallaher Group for US$14.7 billion.