Scandinavian Tobacco Group
Scandinavian Tobacco Group is a manufacturer of cigars and traditional pipe tobacco.[1] The company is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, and is a publicly listed Company on NASDAQ Copenhagen.[2]
 | |
| Type | Publicly traded |
|---|---|
| Copenhagen Stock Exchange | |
| ISIN | DK0060696300  |
| Industry | Tobacco |
| Founded | 1961 (As Skandinavisk Tobakskompagni A/S) |
| Headquarters | Copenhagen, Denmark |
Key people | Niels Frederiksen (CEO) |
| Products | Cigars, pipe tobacco |
Number of employees | approx. 8,100 |
| Website | www.st-group.com |
History
The company can trace its origin back a couple of hundred years while the basis for the modern company dates back was founded in 1961 as Skandinavisk Tobakskompagni A/S by a merger of the tobacco activities of the Danish companies Chr. Augustine Fabrikker, C.W. Obel and R. Færch's Factories.
During a reconstruction of the company in 1990, all cigarette manufacturing was gathered together in the new independent subsidiary company House of Prince A/S and all cigars manufacturing was gathered together in Nobel Cigars A/S – now ST Cigar Group Holding B. V.
In February 2008, the cigarette and snus operations of the company were acquired by British American Tobacco. The company retained its cigar, pipe tobacco, fine-cut tobacco businesses.
In December 2008, the decision was made to change the company's name to Scandinavian Tobacco Group AB.
On 26 April 2010, an agreement was signed to form a new company (Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S) by combining all the tobacco business of Scandinavian Tobacco Group AB with the cigars and pipe tobacco business of Swedish Match AB, including the US-based subsidiaries General Cigar and Cigars International.
Mergers and acquisitions
Since, the company has acquired several companies through mergers and acquisitions.
In 2011, Scandinavian Tobacco Group acquired Lane Limited, a US-based manufacturer and brand owner of pipe-tobacco, fine-cut tobacco and machine-made cigars, from Reynolds American Inc. Through the acquisition of Lane, the company gained ownership of Captain Black (pipe tobacco and cigar), Bugler (fine-cut tobacco), Winchester (cigars) and other smaller brands.
In 2013, the company acquired the catalog and online retail business PipesandCigars.com. In 2014, followed the acquisition of Verellen, a Belgian brand owner and manufacturer of machine-made cigars and Torano, a handmade cigar brand.
In 2018, Scandinavian Tobacco Group acquired Thompson Cigar, a leading US online cigar retailer. In 2019, the company acquired Peterson Pipe Tobacco, the pipe tobacco business of Kapp and Peterson Limited an Irish pipe and pipe tobacco manufacturer. The same year, the company announced the acquisition of Royal Agio Cigars, a leading European producer of cigars and cigarillos. The acquisition was finalised in January 2020.
Agio acquisition
On 2 January, Scandinavian Tobacco Group completed the acquisition of Agio Cigars – a leading European cigar company situated in the Netherlands. Through the acquisition, the company gained access to a strong brand portfolio of machine-made cigars including the key brands Mehari's, Panter and Balmoral.
Public listing
On 10 February 2016, Scandinavian Tobacco Group became a public listed company on the NASDAQ Copenhagen Stock Exchange. 40% of the share capital was sold to new shareholders, while Skandinavisk Holding II A/S and Swedish Match Cigars Holding AB continued as major shareholders of Scandinavian Tobacco Group.
Products
Scandinavian Tobacco Group's primary business is the production and sale of handmade cigars, machine-made cigars, pipe tobacco, and fine-cut tobacco. In total, the company owns more than 200 brands across the different categories.
Handmade cigars
Scandinavian is the leading manufacturer of handmade cigars in the US. Key brands include:
- CAO
- Cohiba (non-Cuban production in competition with the Cuban brand)
- La Gloria Cubana (non-Cuban production in competition with the Cuban brand)
- Macanudo
- Partagas (non-Cuban production in competition with the Cuban brand)
Machine-made cigars
The company is the number one manufacturer of machine-made cigars in Europe and the US. Key brands include:
- Signature
- La Paz
- Panter
- Mehari's
- Mercator
Pipe Tobacco
The company is the number one manufacturer of pipe tobacco in Europe. Key brands include:
Fine-Cut Tobacco The company is the number one manufacturer of fine-cut tobacco in the US and Denmark. Key brands include:
Operations
Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S has several sales offices in different countries worldwide and production sites in Denmark, Belgium, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia and Nicaragua.
The company divides its commercial operation into three regional divisions.
Division Europe Branded includes primarily sales of the company's machine-made cigars, pipe tobacco and fine-cut to Germany, Denmark, Sweden, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal & Canary Islands and the UK & Ireland. The division is run from the company headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Division North America Branded and RoW (Rest of the World) includes primarily sales of the company's handmade cigars and pipe tobacco to the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Asian. The division is run at the company subsidiary General Cigar Company (link to GC Wikipedia site) in Richmon, Virginia US
Division North America Online & Retail includes direct to consumer sales of primarily handmade-cigars and pipe tobacco sold via the online, catalogue and retail channel in the US. The division is run at the company subsidiary Cigars International (link to CI Wikipedia site) in Pennsylvania, US and is the leading online and catalogue distributor of cigars in the country.
References
- Samson, Adam (February 10, 2016). "Scandinavian Tobacco debuts in top European IPO of '16". Financial Times. Retrieved 2020-10-06.