Imperial’s original market value was £2.25million.

Yes­ter­­day it agreed to a £1.4billion takeover bid from Indian state-owned energy giant ONGC, which is keen to exploit the company’s Siber­ian resources.

The company saw off the threat of a rival bid from Chinese oil giant Sinopec. 

The 1250p all-cash offer means founder Peter Levine is £90million richer. He had been hoping to sell for a minimum of 1290p a share, but recent falls in oil prices prompted the firm to accept a lower offer.

ONGC’s deal is conditional on Russian regulatory approval and it is believed that soundings have already been taken with the Kremlin.

Imperial shares fell 25p to 1215p as hopes that Sinopec would make a counter-bid faded.

Analysts said the Russians were not keen to have their energy resources in the hands of the Chinese. They expect ONGC to sell on a stake in Imperial to Russian energy giant Rosneft.