Imperial Tobacco Offers its Petone Site for Sale

Imperial Tobacco has put up for sale the site of its Petone factory in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, reports Stuff.

In February, the company confirmed the factory would go through a staged shutdown and the plant would be decommissioned by the end of 2020 with the loss of 122 jobs.

Located in a popular suburb, the site measures 2.25-hectare and includes a warehouse along with manufacturing and office buildings

The site had been an important part of the Petone economy for around 90 years. W.D and H.O Wills Limited started manufacturing cigarettes in suburb around 1930, after establishing their business in Wellington in 1919 and needing to expand.

 Imperial Tobacco had owned the site since the late-1990s.

The company has not yet confirmed a date for the end of production.