Gallaher Group is a major United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

-based multinational

Multinational corporation

A multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...

 tobacco company. It was traded on the London Stock Exchange

London Stock Exchange

The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...

 and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index

FTSE 100 Index

The FTSE 100 Index, also called FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the footsie , is a share index of the 100 most highly capitalised UK companies listed on the London Stock Exchange....

, prior to its April 2007 acquisition by Japan Tobacco

Japan Tobacco

, abbreviated JT, is a cigarette manufacturing company. It is part of the Nikkei 225 index. In 2009 the company was listed at number 312 on the Fortune 500 list. The company is headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo. The international headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland.-History:The company...

.
The business was originally founded in 1857 by Tom Gallaher

Tom Gallaher

Thomas Gallaher was the founder of Gallaher Group, one of the largest cigarette manufacturers in the United Kingdom.-Career:...

 in Derry

Derry

Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...

, Ireland. By 1896, he had opened the largest tobacco factory in the world in Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

. The business was incorporated on 28 March 1896 to "carry on in all their branches the businesses of tobacco, cigar, cigarettes and snuff manufacture".

Formerly produced in London and Dublin, Gallagher's moved its production to Belfast (cigarettes) and Wales (cigars) in the early 20th century.

On 4 August 2000 Gallaher completed acquisition of Liggett Ducat, Russia's number one cigarette brand.