Philip Morris Buys Imperial Tobacco Trademarks
Philip Morris International (PMI) reaches an agreement with Imperial Tobacco Group (Imperial) to acquire certain brands in the Other Tobacco Products (OTP) category. The agreement transfers Imperial's rights to the Interval fine-cut tobacco trademark worldwide to PMI and either transfers or licenses other select OTP trademarks currently sold in several countries across the European Union.
As part of its acquisition of Altadis, Imperial was required by the European Commission to divest itself of certain OTP brands. In 2007, the acquired brands accounted for an approximate two percent share of the total fine-cut category in PMI's EU Region and Interval, a strong French heritage brand with a high quality blend, was the leading fine-cut brand in the French market with a 14.8 percent share of the category. The deal is valued at 254 million euros.
"We look forward to further developing these quality brands and building on our already strong presence in the growing OTP segment in the region," says Paolo Degola, president, EU Region for PMI. "This expanded brand portfolio will allow PMI to enhance its position in this profitable segment in the EU and, in particular in
The transaction is subject to approval by the European Commission and certain local regulatory agencies and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2008. Other brands included in the agreement are the fine-cut brands Bergerac, Santoya and Wervicq (France), Van Nelle (