Company type | Private limited company UK trading subsidiary of Japan Tobacco International |
---|---|
Industry | Tobacco |
Predecessor | Austria Tabak |
Founded | 1857 |
Headquarters | Weybridge, Surrey, England |
Key people | John Gildersleeve (Chairman) Nigel Northridge (CEO) |
Products | Cigarettes, Tobacco |
Revenue | £8,401 million (2006) |
£660 million (2006) | |
£408 million (2006) | |
Parent | Japan Tobacco [1] |
Gallaher Group was a United Kingdom-based multinational tobacco company which traded on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, prior to its acquisition by American Tobacco in 1974. In April 2007, it was acquired by Japan Tobacco. Japan Tobacco trades in the United Kingdom as Gallaher Ltd.
The business was founded in 1857 by Tom Gallaher in Derry, Ireland (now part of Northern Ireland.) [2] By 1896, he had opened the largest tobacco factory in the world in Belfast. The business was incorporated on 28 March 1896 to "carry on in all their branches the businesses of tobacco, cigar, cigarettes and snuff manufacture".
Formerly manufacturing in London and Dublin, Gallaher moved production to Belfast (cigarettes) and Wales (cigars) in the early 20th century.
Gallaher went on to acquire a number of rival companies including J. A. Pattreiouex (1937), J. R. Freeman (1947), Cope Bros & Co (1952) and Benson & Hedges (1955). [3]
In 1962, Gallaher acquired J Wix & Co., the British subsidiary of American Tobacco, in exchange for Gallaher shares. As a result, American Tobacco owned 13% of Gallaher Ltd. In July 1968, American Tobacco increased its ownership to 28%. American continued to increase its ownership for several years and by October 1974 Gallaher Ltd had become a 100%-owned subsidiary of American Brands (as American Tobacco was now known).
Gallaher held a Royal Warrant of Appointment for 122 years, until the warrant was revoked in 1999 by Queen Elizabeth II. Her son, the Prince of Wales' rigorous anti-smoking campaigning is thought to have been a major influence behind that decision. Gallaher was allowed one year to remove the Royal Coat of Arms from its brands bearing the mark on their packaging. [4]
On 4 August 2000 Gallaher completed the acquisition of Liggett Ducat, Russia's number one cigarette brand. [5] In January 2002, Gallaher became the 100% owner of Austria's former nationalised biggest tobacco-company Austria Tabak. [6]
In 2002 US tobacco firm Reynolds formed Reynolds-Gallaher International to access cigarette sales in most countries in the European Union. The agreement was scheduled to run through 2012 but in May 2007, as a result of the acquisition of Gallaher Group by Japan Tobacco, it was announced that this joint-venture would cease in November 2007. [7]
Japan Tobacco became the sole owner of the Gallaher Group on 18 April 2007, in the largest ever foreign acquisition in Japanese history. [8]
The closure of the former J. R. Freeman's factory in Cardiff was announced in September 2007, with all work scheduled to move to the Ballymena factory by September 2009. [9]
In 2015, JTI Gallaher announced the closure of their Ballymena operations with all work due to re-locate to Eastern Europe in a cost saving measure by 2017. This resulted in the loss of over 1000 jobs in the town and the cessation of tobacco production in Ireland by Gallaher after more than 100 years.[ citation needed ]
Until acquisition by Japan Tobacco, Gallaher operated primarily in the United Kingdom and Europe, with smaller operations in Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Gallaher was the third largest of the three major British tobacco groups after British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco.
Gallaher-owned brands included Benson & Hedges (with Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco, and Japan Tobacco), Silk Cut, Sterling, Mayfair, Crystal, Nil, Kensitas Club, Senior Service, Dos Hermanos, Gold Seal, Amber Leaf, Sobranie, Hamlet Cigars, Logic (vape) and Nordic Spirit (nicotine pouch).
The Djarum products include Djarum Super, Djarum Black, Djarum Coklat, Djarum 76, Djarum Istimewa, Djarum Special, Djarum Menthol, Djarum Vanilla, Djarum Cherry, LA Lights, Mustang, Mr. Brown, and Envio Mild. Djarum Group's relationship with Gallaher Group has not been properly confirmed, since PT Djarum is a private Indonesian company, with the majority of its shares owned by the Hartono family. [10]
Gallaher owned Wismilak, which is the 6th largest cigarette company in Indonesia. However, this ownership was not recorded in Wismilak Group Shareholders list as per 31 December 2014. [11] [12]
In the UK, Japan Tobacco International maintains a national distribution centre in Crewe and Business Service Centre in Manchester.
Cigarette cards are trading cards issued by tobacco manufacturers to stiffen cigarette packaging and advertise cigarette brands.
British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London. As of 2021, it is the largest tobacco company in the world based on net sales.
The Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT) is a Japanese diversified tobacco company. It was established in 1985 as a tokushu gaisha that inherited the right to monopolize and manufacture cigarettes from the Japan Tobacco and Salt Public Corporation and required the government to hold at least 50% of its shares. In addition to tobacco, JT diversified its businesses, establishing the pharmaceutical research institute in 1993 and making a full-scale entry into the food and beverage industry in 1998. In 2008, it acquired the food manufacturer Katokichi, now TableMark, as a wholly-owned subsidiary, integrating its food business.
Imperial Brands plc is a British multinational tobacco company headquartered in London and Bristol, England. It is the world's fourth-largest international cigarette company measured by market share after Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco and the world's largest producer of fine-cut tobacco and tobacco papers.
Swedish Match AB is a Swedish multinational tobacco company headquartered in Stockholm. The company manufactures snus, nicotine pouches, moist snuff, tobacco- and nicotine-free pouch products, chewing tobacco, chew bags, tobacco bits, cigars, matches, lighters, and other fire products with operations in Sweden, Denmark, the United States, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, the Netherlands, and the Philippines. The company's origins can be traced back to 1868, and Ivar Kreuger. Swedish Match has played an important part in Sweden's industrial development.
W.D. & H.O. Wills was a British tobacco manufacturing company formed in Bristol, England. It was the first British company to mass-produce cigarettes. It was one of the 13 founding companies of the Imperial Tobacco Company ; these firms became branches, or divisions, of the new combine and included John Player & Sons.
Benson & Hedges is a British brand of cigarettes owned by American conglomerate Altria. Cigarettes under the Benson & Hedges name are manufactured worldwide by different companies such as Rothmans, Benson & Hedges, Philip Morris USA, British American Tobacco, or Japan Tobacco, depending on the region. In the UK, they are registered in Old Bond Street in London, and were manufactured in Lisnafillan, Ballymena, Northern Ireland, before production was moved to Eastern Europe in 2017.
Kretek are unfiltered cigarettes of Indonesian origin, made with a blend of tobacco, cloves, and other flavors. The word "kretek" itself is an onomatopoetic term for the crackling sound of burning cloves.
Silk Cut is a British brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Gallaher Group, a division of Japan Tobacco. The packaging is characterised by a distinctive stark white packet with the brand name in a purple, blue, red, silver, white or green square.
Mevius, previously called Mild Seven, is a Japanese brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Japan Tobacco.
Hamlet is a brand of cigar produced by the Gallaher Group division of Japan Tobacco. First launched in the United Kingdom in 1964, they are now sold in a number of western European markets in both miniatures and regular length, and were frequently described as "the mild cigar" in their former advertising campaigns.
LD is an international brand of cigarettes, currently owned by Japan Tobacco. It is manufactured in Turkey by JT International U.S.A for the United States market.
Nil is a German brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Gallaher Group, a subsidiary of Japan Tobacco. Nil is German for Nile.
PT Djarum is an Indonesian kretek brand/manufacturer founded on 21 April 1951 by Oei Wie Gwan in Kudus, Central Java. It produces dozens of domestic and international brands. Djarum Black, Super and L.A. Lights are among the most popular products of Djarum. The company owns the PB Djarum, a professional badminton club, the Italian football club Como, and is the main sponsor of Liga 1, Indonesia's top football league from 2005 to 2011. Under its direct parent PT Dwimuria Investama Andalan, it has non-cigarette business lines in technology, banking and beverages.
Djarum Black is an Indonesian brand of kretek, currently owned and manufactured by Djarum.
There are approximately 57 million smokers in Indonesia, among a population of 273 million people. Around 63% of men and 5% of women report smoking, equating to 34% of the population. The majority, 88% of Indonesian smokers, use clove-flavoured kreteks. Kretek manufacturers directly employ over 180,000 people in Indonesia and an additional 10 million indirectly. Indonesia is the fifth largest tobacco market in the world, and in 2008 over 165 billion cigarettes were sold in the country.
JTI - Japan Tobacco International is the international tobacco division of Japan Tobacco, a leading international tobacco product manufacturer. The holding company is JT International SA and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and sells its brands in 120 countries.
John Silver is a Swedish brand of cigarettes, which was owned and manufactured by the Tobaksmonopolet. Today, JTI Sweden manufactures the brand, which is a subsidiary of Japan Tobacco.
CJSC «Donskoy Tabak» is a Russian cigarette and tobacco manufacturing company, located in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. It is a part of the Japan Tobacco — a cigarette manufacturing international company. As of 2018, Donskoy Tabak was Russia's fourth-largest cigarette manufacturer.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)