Former KPMG vice chairman Oliver Tant is joining Imperial Tobacco as the company's new finance director, three months after regulatory concerns saw him walk away from a similar role at Legal & General.

Tant will succeed Bob Dyrbus, who is retiring from Imperial Tobacco after 25 years with the company on 31 December. He will join the board next month and will be appointed finance director on 5 November.

Tant joined KPMG in 1982, and was appointed to head up the firm's client council division last year, having lost out on the chairmanship role to Simon Collins. Prior to that, he was UK head of audit and had held a number of senior roles including global managing director of the private equity division and UK head of travel, leisure and tourism. He was also a member of the UK board of KPMG.

Iain Napier, chairman of Imperial Tobacco Group, said of Tant: 'He joins us with a proven track record of driving high performance to maximise value and has extensive corporate finance and financial management expertise. As we continue our strategic transition it's important that we have someone of Oliver's calibre to lead the finance team in supporting the sustainable growth of the business.

Earlier this year, Tant was under consideration for the position of chief finance officer at Legal & General but stood down from the process after City watchdog the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) indicated concerns over the potential hire.