Thursday, April 05, 2007
WHAT IS HABANOS WORTH?
CigarCyclopedia.com - Perelman's Pocket Cyclopedias of Cigars: "Los Angeles, April 5 – With the continuing question of whether Altadis, S.A. will be sold, to who and for how much roiling the European financial markets, one of the central questions is “How much is the cigar business worth?”
And inside that query is the hard-to-figure query: “What is Habanos worth?”
The Times of London explored the question, starting with Javier Terres, the development director of Corporacion Habanos. “If the U.S. market opened tomorrow, it would triple the size of our global market. But right now we cannot sell a single cigar there.”
The Times story, written by Robin Pagnamenta, noted that the U.S. cigar market – largest in the world – is estimated at $1.8 billion and up to 220 million premium cigars annually. But there are issues, starting with the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba.
“There are many legal questions over the rights to market Cuban brands in the United States,” wrote Pagnamenta. “Already, many premium cigars are sold in America under the same brand names but made with Dominican, Honduran or Nicaraguan tobacco because other companies, such as Swedish Match, own the U.S. rights to them.
“At the same time, there are still Cuban exiles living in the U.S. who claim ownership o"
And inside that query is the hard-to-figure query: “What is Habanos worth?”
The Times of London explored the question, starting with Javier Terres, the development director of Corporacion Habanos. “If the U.S. market opened tomorrow, it would triple the size of our global market. But right now we cannot sell a single cigar there.”
The Times story, written by Robin Pagnamenta, noted that the U.S. cigar market – largest in the world – is estimated at $1.8 billion and up to 220 million premium cigars annually. But there are issues, starting with the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba.
“There are many legal questions over the rights to market Cuban brands in the United States,” wrote Pagnamenta. “Already, many premium cigars are sold in America under the same brand names but made with Dominican, Honduran or Nicaraguan tobacco because other companies, such as Swedish Match, own the U.S. rights to them.
“At the same time, there are still Cuban exiles living in the U.S. who claim ownership o"
