烟草在线据《独立报》报道编译　　目前，关于帝国烟草被收购的传闻还未平息。生产包括Lambert & Butler品牌在内的这家卷烟制造商，在2月16日其股价再次创下了一个新的空前高点后，表明其独立的日子可能屈指可数了。

　　猜测已经盛传一段时间了——目前主导欧洲市场的4家公司——作为其中最小的一个，帝国烟草是最有可能被收购的。2月16日，这个观点被德意志银行的Jonathan Fell重新提起，他认为合并是“非常有意义的”。

　　“我们认为对英美烟草和日本烟草来说，通过增加它们的规模，提高它们在欧洲的利润率是有意义的，”分析师称，并指出它们在该地区的利润显著低于帝国烟草的。

　　一个问题是，任何交易都有可能引发重大竞争的担忧，Fell先生认为，尽管一家重组者能自己清除重整障碍，但是更可能是“两个（或两个以上）公司首先组团达成分割帝国资产的协议，然后才投标。”

　　他还提到了中国感兴趣的可能性，他说：“如果中国公司真的想参与国际卷烟市场的话，我们认为并购可能是它们唯一的选择。”

　　然而，分析师非常谨慎，补充说他“认为不会马上进行招标，”目前该地区的经济不稳定——“收购方可能觉得这并不是在欧盟进行大型收购的理想时间。”

　　尽管如此，帝国烟草的股价提高了43便士，提高到了2492便士，因为交易者声称它得到了防御品质的推动，而英美烟草的股价仅提高了3便士，提升至3148便士。

Market Report: Imperial Tobacco shares light up on takeover talk

Independent
Feb 17, 2012

　　There's no stubbing out the takeover talk around Imperial Tobacco at the moment. The cigarette manufacturer, whose brands include Lambert & Butler, set a new, all-time high last night, after its share price once again lit up on suggestions its days of independence might be numbered.

　　Speculation has been rife for a while now that – with four companies currently dominating the European market – as the smallest of the bunch, Imperial was the most likely to be taken out. The idea was revived again yesterday by Deutsche Bank's Jonathan Fell after he argued that consolidation "makes powerful sense".

　　"We believe that it would make a lot of sense for both British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco to boost their profitability in the EU via an increase in their scale," said the analyst, pointing out that their margins in the region are significantly lower than Imperial's.

　　One issue is that any deal would be likely to provoke major competition concerns, and Mr Fell argued that while a suitor acting on its own could make disposals to clear this hurdle, it was more likely that "two (or more) companies would team-up first to agree a split of Imperial's assets before making a bid".

　　He also cited the possibility of interest from China, saying that "if Chinese companies ever want serious exposure to international cigarette markets we think M&A may be their only option".

　　However, the analyst did urge some caution, adding he was "not arguing that a bid has to be imminent" and that – with the region hardly the most stable place economically at the moment – "acquirers may feel that this is not the ideal time to make a large EU acquisition".

　　Nonetheless, Imperial climbed 43p to 2,492p as traders claimed it was also being helped by its defensive qualities, although British American Tobacco could only creep up 3p to 3,148p.