Hanson Trust offered to acquire Imperial Group.

Imperial immediately rejected the $2.8-billion offer as “unwelcome and totally inadequate.” Hanson’s takeover bid is the biggest in the history of the London Stock Exchange. Earlier this week, Imperial--which has interests in brewing, foods and leisure products--agreed to purchase United Biscuits (Holdings) PLC, a leading British food products concern, for $1.9 billion. Hanson also is trying to acquire the U.S. company SCM Corp. Hanson’s bid was the fourth giant British merger proposed this week, and the four deals carried a combined value of $9.22 billion based on current exchange rates.