Timeline

Premium Tobacco’s Development

• The founding shareholders all had backgrounds in the tobacco industry, previously holding senior executive positions either with large tobacco multinationals or some had established smaller, successful tobacco companies which were amalgamated into the new Premium Group.
• A Group head office was set up in the United Kingdom to establish relationships with critically important financial institutions and to
  provide strategic direction to the developing origins.
• M&A activity in the industry at the time had created a significant concentration vesting in two powerful tobacco merchants. The industry and cigarette manufacturers strongly desired an efficient third global player to dilute supplier concentration risk and strengthen competition in the merchant sector.
• Premium’s first investment was in Brazil, given the country’s leading global export status, with the formation of Premium Tabacos do Brasil
  (PTdB).
• PTdB has a full leaf processing facility and contracts both small scale flue cured virginia (FCV) and burley growers though the industry standardized Integrated Production System (IPS).
• The main trading company was established in Ireland and an office was also set up in North Carolina in the USA to support the group’s US customers.