Imperial Brands PLC

Who owns Imperial Brands?

No single owner: it is a public company with institutional investors including BlackRock and Capital Group among its largest shareholders. It trades as IMB on the London Stock Exchange.

When was Imperial Brands founded?

The company formed in 1901 as the Imperial Tobacco Company through the merger of 13 British tobacco firms, led by W.D. & H.O. Wills of Bristol. It became independent in 1996 and renamed Imperial Brands in 2016.

What brands does Imperial own?

Key brands include Davidoff, Gauloises, West, JPS, Backwoods cigars, Rizla papers, Blu vaping, Pulze heated tobacco, Zone and Skruf pouches, and Black Buffalo oral nicotine.

How much revenue does Imperial generate?

FY2024 total revenue was approximately GBP 32.4 billion, of which tobacco and next-generation product net revenue was around GBP 8.2 billion; the difference is largely its Logista distribution business.

Does Imperial own Black Buffalo?

Yes. Imperial acquired the Chicago-based tobacco-free nicotine company in May 2026, adding it to its US next-generation products business.

The company was formed in 1901 as the Imperial Tobacco Company of Great Britain and Ireland, when 13 British tobacco firms, led by W.D. & H.O. Wills of Bristol, merged to counter the American Tobacco Company's attempt to dominate the UK market. The defensive merger worked: American Tobacco retreated to the US under a 1902 agreement that carved up world markets and created British American Tobacco as the international arm.

For most of the twentieth century Imperial was a UK-focused tobacco manufacturer, part of the FTSE establishment and, from 1973, diversified into brewing, packaging, and food through the Imperial Group. Hanson Trust acquired it in 1986, then demerged it as an independent listed company in 1996.

Independence triggered two decades of consolidation. Imperial bought Tobaccor (France), Rizla papers, Australia's Horizon and Peter Stuyvesant businesses, Germany's Reemtsma (2002, adding Davidoff and West), and Spain's Altadis in 2008, a transformative deal that brought Gauloises, Fortuna, and the global cigar business plus the Logista distribution stake. In 2015 it spent $7.1 billion on US brands divested in the Reynolds-Lorillard merger, including blu e-cigs.

The company renamed itself Imperial Brands in 2016, signaling ambitions beyond combustibles. Under CEO Stefan Bomhard, appointed 2020, it pursued a five-year strategy prioritizing its top five markets and building next-generation products: Pulze heated tobacco launched in Europe, Zone nicotine pouches in the US in 2024, and in May 2026 the acquisition of US oral-nicotine maker Black Buffalo, strengthening its American NGP position.

As a tobacco major, Imperial operates under sustained regulatory pressure: plain packaging in the UK and Australia, menthol bans in the EU and UK, proposed US nicotine and menthol rules, and WHO Framework Convention obligations. The company faces the industry's standard litigation exposure and has been involved in disputes over illicit trade and EU antitrust matters historically resolved in the sector.

NGP regulatory risk is rising: FDA marketing orders, EU flavor restrictions on pouches, and tax regimes for oral nicotine all affect its growth assets. The company publishes a science and harm-reduction agenda but remains, by revenue, overwhelmingly a combustible business.