Who owns Kent?
Kent is owned by British American Tobacco (the United Kingdom, LSE: BATS).[1]
Evidence: British American Tobacco p.l.c. Annual Report on Form 20-F filed 2026-02-13, SEC EDGAR, 13 February 2026. Verified from filings; last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- British American Tobacco p.l.c. verified
- Owner HQ
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom, London
- Origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- Category
- Tobacco & nicotine › Tobacco products › Cigarettes
- Parent ticker
- LSE: BATS NYSE: BTI
- Trademark registrant
- Lorillard Licensing Company, LLC (USPTO)
- Last verified
- · 2 sources
About Kent
Kent is one of British American Tobacco's five current global cigarette brands. It was originally an American Lorillard brand; BAT took on its international rights in 1977 when it bought Lorillard's non-US tobacco business, and gained the remaining, US-based Lorillard operation — and full, unified ownership of Kent — through the 2017 completion of the Reynolds American acquisition, since Reynolds had itself acquired Lorillard in 2015.
What British American Tobacco's annual report says about Kent
Sentences about Kent from British American Tobacco's latest annual filing[1], copied word for word.
Volume was 2.7% lower , largely driven by Bulgaria and South Korea and our exit from Mali; Kent's value share was down 10 bps as growth in Brazil was more than offset by lower value share in Romania and Japan.
Kent increased volume in T rkiye and Brazil, which was partly offset by lower volume in Japan and Romania; Lucky Strike's value share grew 50 bps , as growth in the U.S. and Brazil more than offset lower value share in Germany and Mexico.
How often British American Tobacco names Kent in its annual report
A plain count of the times the name appears in the text of each annual report, not counting the start of a sentence. A brand that an owner writes about more is usually one it treats as central. The brand is named less often than it was three years earlier.
Trademark record for Kent
The USPTO record for the Kent mark lists Lorillard Licensing Company, LLC as the owner of record (serial number 73169407). A trademark is often held by a group company rather than the listed parent, so the registrant's name can differ from the owner named above.[2]
Ownership timeline of Kent
- Current owner British American Tobacco [1] verified
Where Kent sits in British American Tobacco
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full British American Tobacco ownership tree →
See the full British American Tobacco brand portfolio (11) →
Other brands owned by British American Tobacco
British American Tobacco controls 11 brands on Brandtree, 11 of them in tobacco & nicotine.
Also in tobacco & nicotine
Other brands in cigarettes, and who owns them
The 81 brands in cigarettes on Brandtree belong to 13 owners. The largest is Imperial Brands, with 11; British American Tobacco has 8.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| GG Mild | Gudang Garam | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
| Crowns | Imperial Brands | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
| American Legend | Karelia | 🇬🇷 Greece |
| Boston (Eastern cigarettes) | Eastern Company | 🇪🇬 Egypt |
| Djarum 76 | Djarum | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
| Capstan | ITC | 🇮🇳 India |
| Camel | Japan Tobacco | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| L&M (United States) | Altria | 🇺🇸 United States |
About the owner: British American Tobacco
British American Tobacco is a publicly listed company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, founded in 1902. Brandtree records 11 brands under its control, and it is listed as LSE: BATS and NYSE: BTI.
British American Tobacco was formed in 1902 as a joint venture between the UK's Imperial Tobacco Company and the American Tobacco Company of the United States, with James 'Buck' Duke as its first chairman. It now sells cigarettes and, since 2019, a deliberately built set of global New Category brands (Vuse vapour, glo heated tobacco and Velo modern oral) in the US and internationally. It completed the acquisition of the 57.8% of Reynolds American Inc. it did not already own on 25 July 2017, bringing Reynolds' US brands — Newport, Camel, Pall Mall and Natural American Spirit among them — into the group.
British American Tobacco: full profile, brands and acquisition history →
🇺🇸 Kent and other American brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 2,570 brands that began in the United States. 501 of them (19%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country, Kent among them.
- ALP — Turning Point Brands 🇺🇸
- Backwoods — Imperial Brands 🇬🇧
- Black & Mild — Altria 🇺🇸
- Camel — Japan Tobacco 🇯🇵
- Captain Black — Scandinavian Tobacco Group 🇩🇰
- Charlie's Chalk Dust — Charlie's Holdings 🇺🇸
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Kent?
The parent company of Kent is British American Tobacco, a publicly listed company headquartered in the United Kingdom.
Is Kent American or British?
Kent originated in the United States, but it is owned today by British American Tobacco, which is headquartered in the United Kingdom. So Kent is an American-origin brand under British ownership.
Is Kent still owned by British American Tobacco?
Yes. As of 29 October 2026, Kent is still owned by British American Tobacco. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (2) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] British American Tobacco p.l.c. Annual Report on Form 20-F filed 2026-02-13 — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 20-F, published 13 February 2026; retrieved 21 September 2026.
- [2] USPTO: KENT, serial 73169407 — United States Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark registry; retrieved 7 October 2026.
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