Cigarticles
Carlos Torano Sells to CAO Parent Co. CW Editorial
by Thomas Bender
An interesting turn of events for cigar smokers who follow the industry, cigar Aficionado is reporting this week, in an exclusive report by David Savona, "the Toraño family has sold its cigar factories to the parent company of C.A.O. International Inc. Nobel Cigars, a unit of the Scandinavian Tobacco Group (ST Group) acquired Latin Cigars Nicaragua, located in Estelí, and Latin Cigars Honduras, located in Danli, for undisclosed terms. The deal officially closed on December 31."
This move had been discussed quietly, in industry circles, for a month or more. One of Cigar Weekly's industry insiders informed CW about what was happening back in early December, but we could not confirm it at that time. This is the latest in a series of moves by C.A.O. that began in the Spring of 2007 when Henri Wintermans, Inc. acquired the Nashville, Tennessee-based company. C. A. O.'s cigar operations have been successful since their inception during the"Cigar Boom" of the 1990s gaining market share and mainstream recognition in the process. This made the company an attractive addition to Wintermans, according to the Wintermans website."In 2007 the company strengthened its leadership position in the market with the acquisitions of CAO, a producer of high-quality cigars operating in the US, and the cigar brand portfolio of Tobacofina-VanderElst." Link
The latest move follows one that Cigar Weekly broke a little more than a year ago. At that time, CW reported, partly from a CAO press release posted on their website.
This move had been discussed quietly, in industry circles, for a month or more. One of Cigar Weekly's industry insiders informed CW about what was happening back in early December, but we could not confirm it at that time. This is the latest in a series of moves by C.A.O. that began in the Spring of 2007 when Henri Wintermans, Inc. acquired the Nashville, Tennessee-based company. C. A. O.'s cigar operations have been successful since their inception during the"Cigar Boom" of the 1990s gaining market share and mainstream recognition in the process. This made the company an attractive addition to Wintermans, according to the Wintermans website."In 2007 the company strengthened its leadership position in the market with the acquisitions of CAO, a producer of high-quality cigars operating in the US, and the cigar brand portfolio of Tobacofina-VanderElst." Link
The latest move follows one that Cigar Weekly broke a little more than a year ago. At that time, CW reported, partly from a CAO press release posted on their website.
CAO was purchased by European tobacco giant Henry Wintermans in early 2007.CW Article from December 4, 2007