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

[Auxsender]

The acquisition will have to pass muster with Danish, EU and US antitrust regulators, but yeah: bad news all around.

Euros and dollars make all things possible.

 

[Auxsender]

The joys of the 'Corporate State' in action. Little or no competition, minimal choice but a fat healthy profit for those at the top.

This is the truth of the modern era. Antitrust enforcement is pitiful if not absent.

Excuse me, Jesse.
That’s “Notes of Hay” to you.
Also the name of my favorite band.

Dude. You’re killin it today.

 

[huntertrw]

So, does this move then explain Per Jensen's exit from Mac Baren? I knew that he left, but do not know why.

 

[huntertrw]

...the transaction is valued at DKK 535 million.

If my conversion is correct, that equates to $76,777,038.73.

 

[InWithBothFeet]

So, does this move then explain Per Jensen's exit from Mac Baren? I knew that he left, but do not know why.

Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S to acquire Mac Baren Tobacco Company A/S :: General Pipe Smoking Discussion

Well, coils be for the best. You won’t know what you missed: Oh, I’ve tried plenty of their stuff, may even have a few tins in storage. I just never bought any. Tobacco coils sound really good, though.

pipesmagazine.com

 

[Chasing Embers]

 

[VDL_Piper]

Our pass time will pass with time.............

 

[gcm]

For Europe, this is already irrelevant. With the 2030 agenda, we will have to hurry to smoke all the tobacco in storage.

What may this agenda be?? As a fellow European i NEED to know.

 

[VDL_Piper]

Just look to Australia if you want a snap shot of the future. Legislation was passed here the other day that roll your own tobacco would no longer be allowed to be sold by type or flavour, it’s just tobacco with no description at all. So heaven knows what is in RYO pouches going forward.

 

[PipeIT]

This is really sad…

In the 80s when I first started smoking, Mac Baren was one of the firsts I tried along with Dunhill and Murray. Mac Baren really has a place of history in my heart.

Since getting back into pipes 4 years ago, I’ve only purchased Mixture Scottish Blend, and these two pictured I have now. The Navy Flake was dated October 2021 and the Virginia September 2022, so it’s nice, they already have age on them, and I’ll most likely let them sit for many more years, especially given this situation.

Can’t say I’m really a Mac Baren smoker anymore, but may be it’s worthwhile to stock up on some.

Oh boy, here comes the Mac Baren Unicorn prices next.

 

[RookieGuy80]

Hoping STG keeps Sutliff operations in Richmond as is, but sadly changes are very likely.

My guess is it will. At least a US satellite office. It helps with the importation.

 

[jpberg]

The EBITDA is what should capture everyone’s attention.
Do a comparison between STG and Phillip Morris.

 

[estate_cob]

So you're saying I should put down the half-finished mason jar of VA #1 I've been smoking (first pipe tobacco I tried!) because it might be worth something someday?

 

[litup]

The EBITDA is what should capture everyone’s attention.
Do a comparison between STG and Phillip Morris.

I'm not sure I am picking up on your meaning here unless you're just pointing out that Phillip Morris is huge compared to STG and they have stronger earnings. I've been looking at the last quarterly report from STG and it doesn't paint a pretty picture.

STG Financial Report

 

[seanv]

So you're saying I should put down the half-finished mason jar of VA #1 I've been smoking (first pipe tobacco I tried!) because it might be worth something someday?

No. Buy more

 

[woodsroad]

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.

Unless you are “in the business”, you really have no idea as to how pipe tobacco sales volumes are doing. Anecdotal evidence means little. My observations (consolidations, plant closings, SKU reductions, atrophied population of older smokers) tell me that pipe tobacco sales continue to decline, perhaps markedly. While niche segments and some regional demographics may be doing better, the overall trend is downward.

 

[woodsroad]

My guess is it will. At least a US satellite office. It helps with the importation.

STG will close the US MacBaren/Sutliff operations and cut the product offerings, just as they eventually did with Lane. That’s the “efficiencies” that they talk about.

 

[jbfrady]

Unless you are “in the business”, you really have no idea as to how pipe tobacco sales volumes are doing. Anecdotal evidence means little. My observations (consolidations, plant closings, SKU reductions, atrophied population of older smokers) tell me that pipe tobacco sales continue to decline, perhaps markedly. While niche segments and some regional demographics may be doing better, the overall trend is downward.

I don't pretend to know how they're doing; As a bystander it's easy to see historic trends while having no financial stake in the matter. Given the likely age of those in charge of Mac Baren, their heirs likely have little interest in the business, so I have no particular judgments in unloading the company.

 

[sablebrush52]

Let's just hope they don't alter any of the recipes for the blends they're acquiring

If past is prologue, that’s a very faint hope.
STG’s focus appears to be on cigars. They can output a very good blend, but they tend not to.
I’ve always thought of STG as the McDonalds of the pipe tobacco world, reliably mediocre.

 

[Chasing Embers]

STG has taken over production of some of P&C's blends. I think the transition has been underway for some time.