Common core systems should ease BAT's Protabaco integration

British American Tobacco’s (BAT) proposed £277m ($452m) acquisition of Colombia tobacco company Productora Tabacalera de Colombia (Protabaco) should be made easier by common enterprise applications.

The deal matches the price that US tobacco giant Philip Moris had agreed for the South American cigarette maker, but that acquisition fell through earlier in the year after encountering regulatory roadblocks.

If the BAT can overcome regulatory hurdles, it should be well placed to integrate Protabaco’s IT systems, as both businesses make extensive use of ERP systems from SAP.

BAT completed a massive ERP rationalisation programme in 2007, consolidating 62 separate ERP systems – including a mixture of SAP and others – down to just six.

Last year, it also signed a five-year application support deal with Indian outsourcing firm Wipro.

The Protabaco acquisition “will strengthen and complement our position in an important market”, said Mark Cobben, BAT’s director in the Americas.