Report :Japan Tobacco In Final Stages Of Talks To Buy Reynolds' Santa Fe Natural

(RTTNews) - Japan Tobacco Inc. has entered the final stages of talks to buy Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) subsidiary Santa Fe Natural Tobacco, Nikkei reported.

The report said that the two sides aim to reach an agreement this week. The price is expected to reach around $5 billion, making the acquisition Japan Tobacco's largest since it bought the U.K.'s Gallaher for $14.7 billion in 2007.

Santa Fe manufactures Natural American Spirit cigarettes for sale in the U.S., Japan and Europe. JT hopes to gain marketing rights for the brand and use it to accelerate global growth. But Reynolds could exclude American rights from the deal.

Last week, Bloomberg had reported that Japan Tobacco was in talks to buy assets worth about $5 billion from Reynolds American, including some of the Natural American Spirit tobacco brand.