Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S to acquire Mac Baren Tobacco Company A/S

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jguss

Lifer
Jul 7, 2013
2,624
7,067
Frankly I’m shocked this got by EU antitrust review. Likewise FTC review in the US. Given they already own CI this should present a HSR problem.

That’s assuming they submitted it for review at all.

I understand there may be a materiality threshold but I wonder is STG even did their homework on US requirements. This transaction appears to hugely reduce competition in this space.
 

sardonicus87

Lifer
Jun 28, 2022
1,283
13,624
37
Lower Alabama
This day and age, any company getting acquired means quality dips. That's what big companies do, they buy a company and cut costs to decrease bottom line by making higher productivity demands, forcing the use of lower quality materials, cutting worker pay, cutting jobs... as a result, quality suffers.

The product they produce isn't the product and the consumer that consumes it isn't the consumer. The real product is the company itself and how it looks on paper, and the real consumer is the shareholders.

This is a massive kick in the nuts... I like a lot of Mac Baren and Sutliff blends. Unfortunately, I don't have the money or the space to stock up on the ones I like.

t('.'t) STG.
 

litup

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 16, 2015
774
2,364
Sacramento, CA
Frankly I’m shocked this got by EU antitrust review. Likewise FTC review in the US. Given they already own CI this should present a HSR problem.

I understand there may be a materiality threshold but I wonder is STG even did their homework on US requirements. This transaction appears to hugely reduce competition in this space.
I think the FTC has their hands full losing every single case they bring against big tech these days. And, frankly, I don't think they care one iota about protecting tobacco consumers. If anything, they probably view consolidation as a step in the right direction towards the tobacco market destroying itself without the government needing to do it.
 

mingc

Lifer
Jun 20, 2019
4,207
12,500
The Big Rock Candy Mountains
Frankly I’m shocked this got by EU antitrust review. Likewise FTC review in the US. Given they already own CI this should present a HSR problem.

That’s assuming they submitted it for review at all.

I understand there may be a materiality threshold but I wonder is STG even did their homework on US requirements. This transaction appears to hugely reduce competition in this space.
I don't read the press release as suggesting that the acquisition has passed regulatory reviews. This is just a first step I think.
 
Last edited:
Apr 26, 2012
3,566
7,811
Washington State
I'm not a huge Mac Baren fan, but I do enjoy several of their blends. My favorite being HH Latakia Flake. Though this acquisition of STG buying Mac Baren won't affect me personally, it's still unfortunate as at some point it seems like STG will own everything. I have no issues with STG as I enjoy many of the tobacco's they produce, but it's always better to have competition than one company owning everything. Let's just hope they don't alter any of the recipes for the blends they're acquiring.
 

jbfrady

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 27, 2023
675
2,768
South Carolina
Per Jensen told me at the Vegas show they let him go because RYO is growing in the EU while pipe smoking is dying. That, and as a family business, the relics of the past are moving on and the younger generation of HH's just don't have skin in the pipe game. In a certain way, it makes sense for them to sell. After all, the pipe industry seems to die every few decades.

And yet, pipe smoking revives as often as it dies. Humans having been smoking pipes for 10,000+ years (Ref: Iain Gately's History of Tobacco) and there's no reason to believe that it'll perish for good now. I have to wonder if both the folks at Mac Baren and Scandinavian alike won't regret the decision if it goes through.

Recent trends (pipe makers sprouting up all over the world, with Lord of he Rings franchises also being produced ad infinitum) would suggest that there's a flood to come. All this consolidation is likely to make STG stagnate in the future as they assume they own the market. That'll open the way for innovation - one can hope - but once Scandinavian acquired Mac Baren, they'll only stand to lose market share with every new trend.