International Tobacco Group

History

2022

Change of major shareholder in Russia

On September 8, 2022, International Tobacco Group (formerly Imperial Tobacco Sale and Marketing), a manufacturer of tobacco products under the brands Davidoff, West, Jade, P&S and Maxim, replaced the main shareholder - it was Nikolai Tyaka (75% share), partner of the owners of the largest tobacco distributor Megapolis billionaires Igor Kesaev and Sergey Katsiev.

This was reported on September 12, 2022 by RBC, citing data from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. It follows from them that two shareholders reduced their shares in favor of the new majority shareholder: Alexander Kobzev - from 30% to 0.5%, Sergey Bronetsky - from 20.5% to 15.5%. Igor Dzutsev and Svetlana Tuganova retained shares of 4.5% each. Konstantin Ivanov (owned 28%), Yuri Khalturin (0.5%) and Alexander Naumov resigned from the shareholders.

International Tobacco Group changed its main shareholder in Russia

International Tobacco Group, for the second time after British cigarette manufacturer Imperial Brands left the Russian market in the spring of 2022 due to Western sanctions amid a military operation in Ukraine, is changing its ownership structure.

At the end of April 2022, Imperial Brands announced that it had disposed of assets in Russia; a non-cash charge of £225m was expected.

Until April 27, 2022, the Dutch structure of the Imperial Tobacco Holdings (Netherlands) B.V. group owned 100% of the shares of Imperial Tobacco Volga LLC (a factory in Volgograd) and 90% of the Moscow sales office of Imperial Tobacco Sale and Marketing LLC. Another 10% was owned by the German subsidiary of Reemtsma Cigarettenfabriken. From April 27, 2022, Alexander Kobzev, Konstantin Ivanov, Sergey Bronetsky and Alexander Naumov became the new owners.

Until 2019, Nikolai Tyaka developed a farm. Former shareholders of International Tobacco Group are also associated with the structures of Kesaev and Katsiev.^[1]

Transfer of West and Maxim brands passed to Russian owners

As it became known in mid-August 2022, cigarette manufacturer Imperial Brands transferred the exclusive rights to several cigarette brands, including West and Maxim, to its Russian structure, International Tobacco Group LLC. Under the alienation agreement, the Russian company also received the rights to several dozen trademarks related to the Maxim and Parker & Simpson (P&S) brands.

Yuri Fedyukin, Managing Partner of Enterprise Legal Solutions, told RBC that the alienation transaction involves the transfer of all rights related to commercial use for labeling and promotion of products. The company has acquired full rights over the trademarks, including the ability to grant the right to use them to others at its discretion, "he said. According to Maxim Korolev, editor-in-chief of the Russian Tobacco industry agency, the transfer of rights shows that at the moment Imperial Brands has no intentions to return to the Russian market.

Until April 27, 2022, the Dutch structure of the Imperial Tobacco Holdings (Netherlands) B.V. group owned 100% of the shares of Imperial Tobacco Volga LLC (a factory in Volgograd) and 90% of the Moscow sales office of Imperial Tobacco Sale and Marketing LLC. Another 10% was owned by the German subsidiary of Reemtsma Cigarettenfabriken.

From April 27, 2022, Alexander Kobzev, Konstantin Ivanov, Sergey Bronetsky and Alexander Naumov became the new owners. By mid-August 2022, 30% of both companies belong to Kobzev and Ivanov, 28% to Bronetsky, 12% to Naumov^[2]

Notes

Шаблон:Remarks