The fallout from the crisis in the credit markets could spread to corporate mergers and acquisitions activity after analysts voiced fears over Imperial Tobacco's planned £8.5bn (€12.5bn) takeover of Spanish rival Altadis.

Citi analyst Adam Spielman said in a research note that this month's credit woes were likely to have a "material impact" on Imperial's plans to buy Altadis. He said the UK tobacco firm might need to increase the size of its rights issue to more than £5bn because ratings agencies would demand that it obtains more conservative credit ratios.