Japan Tobacco Buying Akij’s Tobacco Business For $1.5 billion

In the biggest deal ever involving a Bangladeshi company, Japan Tobacco Inc, a Japanese tobacco giant, is buying the tobacco business of Akij Group, United Dhaka Tobacco Company, for around $1.5 billion.

First reported by Reuters, the acquisition is expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year, pending regulatory clearance, said the report.

• Akij’s United Dhaka Tobacco Company is Bangladesh’s second-biggest tobacco company and is profitable
• It holds about 20 percent of the cigarette market in Bangladesh
• It owns the brands such as Navy and Sheikh
• Bangladesh is the world’s eighth largest cigarette market.