Invest News DetailHurriyet English - British American Tobacco (BAT) said it completed its acquisition of the cigarette business assets of Tekel, the Turkish state-owned tobacco company, a company statement said on Tuesday. The completion follows earlier approval by Türkiye's Competition Board and ratification by the Turkish Privatization High Council. BAT, the world's second largest cigarette group, won the auction for Tekel in February, with the highest bid of $1.72 billion in a deal increasing BAT's market share in Türkiye fivefold. Türkiye is the world's eighth largest cigarette market, with Turks smoking 103 billion cigarettes annually. The statement also said BAT has invested more than $2 billion in Türkiye up to now and presented job opportunities to 2,000 people directly.