Japan Tobacco Inc is buying the tobacco business of Bangladesh's Akij Group for around $1.5 billion (£1.15 billion), its second major purchase in five months as the world's third-biggest cigarette maker seeks new growth markets to offset shrinking sales at home.

The 124.3 billion taka ($1.5 billion) deal, one of the biggest cross-border M&A transactions involving a Bangladeshi company, comes after Japan Tobacco agreed in March to buy Russia's Donskoy Tabak for about 90 billion roubles ($1.42 billion).

Japan Tobacco is one of the biggest international organizations in the world. It is doing business in around 130 countries of the world with 60 thousands staff.

BDST: 1931 HRS, AUG 6, 2018 

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