Press releaseMay 11, 2000
Swedish Match completes closing of General Cigar
- Swedish Match will own 64% of
General Cigar
- The transaction confirms
Swedish Match as a leading global cigar company
Swedish Match AB (OM Stockholm
Stock Exchange: SWMA, NASDAQ: SWMAY) announced today that they
have completed the previously announced transaction with
General Cigar Holdings, Inc. following the overwhelmingly
favourable vote by the General Cigar stockholders at a special
meeting held on May 8th, 2000. Swedish Match will own
64% of the company, and the Cullman family will own the remaining
36% and continue to manage the enterprise.
The closing took place in New
York, where Edgar M. Cullman, Jr., General Cigar’s Chief
Executive Officer, and Lennart Sundén, the Chief Executive Offer
said, "We celebrate our constructive work together , and
look forward to our continuing cooperative efforts in developing
the global premium cigar business in the future."
General Cigar produces the number
one selling premium cigar in the United States, Macanudo, and
several other leading premium brands in the US, including
Partagas, Punch, Hoyo de Monterrey, and Cohiba. The company,
which traces it roots to 1906, has been managed by the Cullman
family since 1961 and is recognized as a world leader in the
premium cigar business. General Cigar had premium cigar sales of
approximately $150 for the year ended
November 28, 1999.
Swedish Match is an
international group with headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. The
company manufactures a broad range of tobacco products, matches
and disposable lighters which are sold in approximately 140
countries. Sales for the twelve month period ending March 31,
2000 amounted to approximately 9,600 MSEK.
For further information,
please contact:
Lennart Sundén, President and
Chief Executive Officer, office +46 8 658 01 75
Sven Hindrikes, Executive Vice
President and Chief Financial Officer, office +46 8 658 02 82
mobile +46 70 567 41 76
Bo Aulin, Senior Vice President
and General Counsel Secretary, office +46 8 658 03 64
mobile +46 70 558 03 64
Emmett Harrison, Vice President
Investor Relations, office +46 8 658 01 73
mobile +46 70 938 01 73
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