Imperial Tobacco, the world’s fourth largest tobacco group has made a second informal approach pitched at €47 a share to acquire Altadis, its smaller Franco-Spanish rival.

Imperial is understood to have held discussions with Altadis over the weekend during which the UK group put forward the increased offer, according to people close to the situation. The move comes two weeks after Imperial kicked off a potential bidding war for Altadis with an initial approach of €45 a share, which was immediately rejected as too low an offer.