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• New regulation could stub out Imperial Tobacco’s US hopes 

Commonwealth Brands, Imperial Tobacco’s newly acquired US tobacco business, is under threat from proposed new laws introducing tough regulatory powers over the industry.

Imperial, Britain’s second-largest cigarette company, acquired Commonwealth, the fourth-biggest player in the US, two weeks ago for $1.9 billion (£975 million).

But new Bills introduced last week in the US House and Senate, designed to give America’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fresh powers to regulate the tobacco business, have cast a shadow over the deal.

“It could lead to a more complex tobacco regulatory climate,” Imperial said in a statement to The Times.

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