Donskoy Tabak for Sale

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 11/24/2011

The largest Russian-owned cigarette manufacturer is up for sale and foreign buyers are eager to snap it up, according to a story by Aleksey Danichev for RIA Novosti. Donskoy Tabak is based in the south of the country and currently has about four per cent of the domestic market. ¬The company, which produced about 26 million cigarettes last year, bought local rival Nevo Tabak at the beginning of the year. It owns two local brands, Donskoy Tabak, and Nasha Marka, and produces Richmond and Senator under licence. Higher taxes and new anti-smoking laws are putting pressure on tobacco producers, making it difficult for smaller companies to survive. "Big international companies have more options to meet the requirements, than smaller ones," says Vadim Zhilin, chief executive of the Russian Association of Tobacco Producers. "Companies are trying to be more efficient and merging," he added. The Kommersant newspaper reported that Imperial Tobacco was interested in buying Donskoy Tabak, a move that would lift its share in Russia above 12 per cent. Enditem