ITG Brands, LLC is the third-largest American tobacco manufacturing company in the United States. It is an independent subsidiary of multinational Imperial Brands. ITG Brands markets and sells multiple cigarette and cigar brands and sells blu eCigs.[1] The company was created in 2015 and has its production, headquarters, and regulatory compliance facilities located in Greensboro, North Carolina.[2]
 | |
| Company type | Limited liability company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Tobacco |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Kim Reed (CEO) |
| Parent | Imperial Brands |
| Website | itgbrands.com |
History
editITG Brands was formed in June 2015 as an American subsidiary of multinational conglomerate Imperial Brands. After competing tobacco companies Reynolds American Inc. and Lorillard Inc. merged in 2015, they were required by the FTC to divest four cigarette brands. Imperial then acquired cigarette brands Winston, Salem, Kool, and Maverick, along with blu eCigs from the Reynolds American-Lorillard merger for $7.1 billion.[3][4] Cigar brands already owned by Imperial included Backwoods, Dutch Masters, and Phillies. David Taylor, the CFO of Lorillard Inc. pre-merger, became ITG Brands’ first CEO in 2015.[5]
ITG Brands announced it would close the Reidsville manufacturing plant by April 2020, "affecting 117 manufacturing jobs."[6] It planned to move manufacturing to Greensboro, North Carolina.[7] As of 2022, the number of Greensboro employees was down to 895 from 1700 in 2015.[8]
ITG Brands was one of three tobacco companies warned by the Food and Drug Administration that "they did not have the agency’s approval to claim that their products were free of certain harmful substances, or that they posed less risk to consumers than other tobacco products."[9]
ITG Brands donated $25,000 to the North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund to provide relief for Hurricane Florence.[10]
In 2021, Kim Reed was named as president and CEO.[11]
In 2023, ITG Brands forced the closure of the historic "Winston Cup Museum" located in Winston-Salem, NC due to numerous copyright lawsuits filed against the small business. [12]
Brands
edit- Antonio y Cleopatra
- Backwoods Smokes
- blu eCigs
- Crowns
- Dutch Masters
- El Producto
- Hav-A-Tampa
- Kool
- Maverick
- Montclair
- Phillies
- Rave
- Salem
- Sonoma
- USA Gold
- White Cat
- Winston
- Zone
References
edit- ^ Herzog, Bonnie (18 June 2015). "Reynolds (NYSE: RAI) and ITG Brands in $1.5B e-cig market". Triad Business Journal. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
- ^ "ITG Brands moving tobacco production from Reidsville to Greensboro". Greensboro News & Record. November 1, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
- ^ Arcieri, Katie (May 28, 2015). "The $27B Reynolds-Lorillard deal: Which brands go where?". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
- ^ Mangan, Dan (July 15, 2014). "Feeling blu? E-cig company spun off in major tobacco deal". CNBC. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
- ^ Arcieri, Katie (June 15, 2015). "ITG Brands CEO: Focus will be to "restore" the value of Winston, Kool brands". Triad Business Journal. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
- ^ Craver, Richard (9 November 2018). "Imperial Brands projects slight revenue growth for fiscal 2018". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
- ^ Bollinger, Luke (2 November 2018). "ITG Brands moving its Reidsville facilities in 2020". Triad Business Journal. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
- ^ Craver, Richard (6 April 2022). "Imperial expects slight revenue growth: Imperial remains on pace for small revenue growth in fiscal 2022". Winston-Salem Journal.
- ^ Abrams, Rachel (27 August 2015). "F.D.A. Warns 3 Tobacco Makers About Language Used on Labels". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
- ^ CSD Staff (27 September 2018). "ITG Brands Donates $25,000 to Aid Hurricane Relief". Convenience Store Decisions. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
- ^ "ITG Promotes Kim Reed". Bizjournals.
- ^ "Winston Cup Museum Announces Closer". MyFox8.