British American Tobacco US, mostly known for its acronym BATUS, was the United States subsidiary of multinational company British American Tobacco (BAT), the world's second largest cigarette manufacturer. BATUS served as the U.S. holding company for BAT. In the 1960s, the company diversified into areas such as insurance, drink, and retail. In 2004, BATUS merged with the other BAT's U.S. business, Brown & Williamson and R.J. Reynolds, to form Reynolds American.

History

BATUS was created by British American Tobacco as a subsidiary to oversee the U.S. holdings in 1980. Through its BATUS unit, BAT diversified its tobacco holdings with acquisitions in the retail sector, paper sector (through the acquisition of Appleton Paper Company ) and insurance through the acquisition of Farmers Insurance Group. Management for BATUS was initially derived from Brown & Williamson Tobacco with B&W's CEO and chairman of the board, Joseph E. Edens, becoming the first president of BATUS in 1980. Edens retired as president in 1981 and was replaced by Charlie McCarty. In 1985, Hank Frigon was elected chief operating officer of the company and it was announced that he would succeed McCarty after he retired. In 1972, BATUS acquired Kohl Food and Department Stores from the Kohl family. In 1973, the company acquired Saks Fifth Avenue and Gimbel Brothers. In 1982, BATUS acquired Marshall Field & Co and Frederick & Nelson for $310 million. In 1986, BATUS sold Gimbels to various companies including May Department Stores and Allied Stores. Also in 1986, four investors acquired Kohl's in a leveraged buyout. To manage the large retail holdings, BAT and BATUS created BATUS Retail Group in the 1980s. The group expanded the current store presence of existing businesses and developed Thimbles, a women's clothing company. In 1988, BATUS acquired Farmers Group Inc. In 1989, Sir James Goldsmith attempted a hostile takeover of BAT. In an effort to fend off the takeover, BAT divested much of its U.S. operations to raise capital and focus the business. BRG and BATUS was shut down and some remaining administrative operations were consolidated back to Brown and Williamson Tobacco. While the company was not required to file an annual report since they were a subsidiary of British American Tobacco based in London, they did produce reports to assist with financing and investments in the United States. One of BATUS' primary responsibilities was the management of funding and cash from US operations.

Department stores owned by BATUS