Tag: bat

BAT Adds Murray Kessler to Board

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Murray S. Kessler will join the board of BAT as an independent nonexecutive director and member of the nominations and remuneration committees with effect from Nov. 6, 2023.
Murray previously held several senior positions, including chief executive, president and board member of Perrigo; president, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Lorillard Tobacco Co.; vice chair of Altria Group; and president, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of UST. Prior to joining UST, Murray had a 12-year career with Campbell Soup Company, having served as vice president of sales and marketing, general manager of the Swanson division of Campbell Soup and other leadership roles.
Commenting on the appointment, Luc Jobin, chair of the board, said: “I am pleased to welcome Murray Kessler to our board. Murray has extensive leadership experience in growing consumer product companies and managing regulated businesses, and I am looking forward to his contribution as we accelerate our strategy to build ‘A Better Tomorrow.’”
October 5, 2023
BAT Outlines Five-Step Vapor Rules Plan

BAT has released a blueprint for how regulators and governments could better regulate vapor products and help smokers switch to less risky products.
During DTNF 2023, held from Sept 18-20 in Seoul, BAT’s global head of business communications, Jonathan Atwood, told attendees how BAT’s five-step plan for regulation could support achieving the right balance between harm reduction and the unintended consequences of access, including underage use.
Speaking on behalf of Kingsley Wheaton, BAT’s chief strategy & growth officer, Atwood said that reckless players in the market need to be penalized when they do not abide by the rules. He said the five suggestions are the areas that regulators should explore and establish “smart regulation” that is right for their market.
“First, on-device technology and functionality: vapor products should be accessible only to adults. Both underage prevention and restriction is crucial. On-device technology, when applied and enforced across entire markets, could help in this regard.
“Second, more recognition is needed that flavors are an important driver of adoption for smokers seeking alternatives. However, flavors in vapor products should not particularly appeal to anyone underage.
“Third is at the manufacturing and import level: ensuring that non-compliant products cannot reach the market in the first place.
“Fourth, where no restrictions exist already, regulators may want to look at who should be able to sell vapor products and where. Reasonable safeguards at the point-of-sale would help ensure these products are sold only to adult consumers. Solutions such as retail licensing and facial recognition technologies should be seriously considered.
“Lastly, enforcement and penalties: governments must wield their power and ensure consumers are purchasing legitimate products. Such measures should be rigorously enforced and those who fail to comply should face meaningful sanctions.”
Atwood said BAT was calling upon governments, regulators, and industry peers to rally towards a sustainable and progressive environment in which vaping products are sold and marketed responsibly.

September 19, 2023
BAT Sells Russian Business

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BAT has formally entered into an agreement to sell its Russian and Belarusian businesses.
The buyer is a consortium led by members of BAT Russia’s management team, which, upon completion, will wholly own both businesses. Post completion, these businesses will be known as the ITMS Group.
“Throughout the transfer process, one of BAT’s key priorities has been the interests of its colleagues in Russia and Belarus,” BAT wrote in a statement. “As part of the agreement, their employment terms will remain comparable to their existing BAT terms for at least two years post-completion.”
BAT anticipates that the transaction will complete within the next month once certain conditions have been satisfied. Upon completion, BAT will no longer have a presence in Russia or Belarus and will receive no financial gain from ongoing sales in these markets.
BAT remains confident of delivering its full-year guidance as set out at its half-year results on July 26, 2023.
BAT’s operations in Russia include a head office in Moscow, 75 regional offices and a manufacturing facility in St. Petersburg. BAT also has an office in Belarus.
On June 30, 2023, on a constant currency basis, Russia and Belarus accounted for approximately 2.7 percent of group revenue and approximately 2.5 percent of group adjusted profit from operations.
BAT’s decision to sell its Russian business is a response to Moscow’s military invasion of Ukraine.
September 7, 2023
BAT Opens Innovation Hub in Italy

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BAT opened a new innovation hub in Trieste, Italy. The innovation hub cost €500 million ($548 million) over five years.
The Hub incorporates laboratories, production offices, technical rooms and 12 production lines for new category products, making BAT the first company in the tobacco industry to distribute a full range of new category products in Italy.
The site also contains a digital boutique and innovation lab, focusing on digital transformation, sustainability and open innovation through external collaborations and partnerships.
The new complex was completed in 21 months and has been designed according to the most advanced sustainability criteria. It uses 100 percent energy from renewable sources and aims to achieve carbon neutrality certification by the beginning of 2024.
A photovoltaic array and biomass plant will produce much of the complex’s energy needs, with the remaining energy purchased from certified sustainable providers.
It is estimated that the innovation hub will create 2,700 future jobs—600 jobs directly and a further 2,100 jobs in the local and national economy and supply chain. BAT Italy already works with around 400 companies in its agricultural supply chain, employing more than 6,000 people.
“The completion of the Trieste innovation hub marks a milestone in BAT’s global strategy for innovation and sustainability. I am proud that BAT is the first company in the industry to distribute its full range of new category products. The hub represents a significant contribution to the country’s employment and economic growth,” said Fabio de Petris, CEO of BAT Italy.
June 27, 2023
BAT Changes Management Board

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Following the appointment of Tadeu Marroco as CEO on May 15, 2023, BAT has announced changes to its management board. According to BAT, the new structure, roles and composition of the management board will support Tadeu’s commitment to a sharpened focus on improved execution and operational excellence; enhanced capabilities critical to BAT’s strategic development and transformation; and a progressive and agile organization with a collaborative and inclusive culture.

This refreshed management board structure is critical to my commitment to build a progressive and agile organization with a collaborative and inclusive culture, enabling simultaneous performance and transformation.
Tadeu Marroco, CEO, BAT
Johan Vandermeulen will be appointed to the new role of chief operating officer, reporting to the CEO, effective July 1, 2023. This role will be accountable for driving business performance, operational excellence and best-in-class execution, with a focus on both short-term and sustainable delivery. Reporting to Vandermeulen will be David Waterfield, promoted to the management board as president and CEO of Reynolds American Inc. effective July 1, 2023; Fred Monteiro (director of Americas and Europe) and Michael Dijanosic (director of Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa); Zafar Khan (director of operations) and Javed Iqbal (director of digital and information). Iqbal also currently serves as interim finance director.
Kingsley Wheaton will be appointed to the new role of chief strategy and growth officer, reporting to the CEO, effective Sept. 1, 2023. This role will be accountable for continued strategic development and delivery of sharper consumer focus through an integrated approach to brands together with shaping enablers for long-term sustainable growth and driving the company’s robust ESG agenda. Reporting to Wheaton will be Luciano Comin, appointed to the new role of marketing director of combustibles and new categories effective July 1, 2023—this role will be accountable for a more integrated approach to insights, innovation, brand-building, consumer experience and activation and revenue growth management across the combustibles and new categories portfolios; Paul McCrory, promoted to the management board to the new role of director of corporate and regulatory affairs effective Sept. 1, 2023—this role will be accountable for shaping regulatory strategy and leading regulatory engagement to secure sustainable access to markets and categories; and James Barrett, promoted to the management board to the new role of director of business development effective Sept. 1, 2023—this role will be accountable for strategy development, M&A, the Wellbeing and Stimulation portfolio and BAT’s venturing unit, Btomorrow Ventures; James Murphy, director of research and science, and Jerome Abelman, director of legal affairs and general counsel, continue in their roles reporting directly to the CEO.
Guy Meldrum, currently president and CEO of Reynolds American Inc., and Paul Lageweg, currently director of new categories, will step down from their roles and from the management board effective June 30, 2023, and will facilitate a transition with their successors.
Hae In Kim will step down from the management board effective June 30, 2023, to take up the role of strategic talent director, reporting to the CEO. As an integral part of her responsibilities in this leadership role working alongside the board and the management board, Kim will oversee the execution of several key projects as part of BAT’s talent agenda.
The existing roles of chief transformation officer, chief growth officer, director of new categories and director of combustibles will be removed from the management board as their accountabilities transfer within the new structure.
A comprehensive process is underway to identify and appoint the successors for the roles of finance director and director of talent, culture and inclusion, reporting to the CEO.
“This refreshed management board structure is critical to my commitment to build a progressive and agile organization with a collaborative and inclusive culture, enabling simultaneous performance and transformation,” said Marroco in a statement. “To that end, I am delighted to be welcoming David, Paul and James to the management board. They are all highly collaborative leaders who have the depth of experience to enable the continued strategic and cultural transformation of BAT.
“I would like to thank Guy for his significant contribution across many markets and geographies over the last two decades and Paul for his role in helping to create a new category business that continues to drive BAT’s transformation. I also look forward to working with Hae In as strategic talent director.”
June 19, 2023
David Paton Joins Philter
David Paton
David Paton, the former head of global open innovation at BAT, has joined Philter as the company’s chief innovation officer. Paton became a member of the Philter science and strategic advisory board in September 2022.
As the company’s chief innovation officer, he will play a key role working with the company’s co-founder and CTO, John Grimm, to advance the company’s next-generation technologies. During his time at BAT, Paton served in several senior innovation roles, including head of product development for tobacco-heating products, head of global discovery and head of global open innovation. Paton has extensive experience in product strategy, product development and new-to-world innovations gained from his career at BAT and previously Kimberly-Clark.
“From the moment I saw the latest technological developments at Philter, I immediately recognized how the company will materially change the way consumers smoke and vape, making it less risky for everyone,” said Paton in a statement. “Philter has undoubtedly created game-changing technology that will change the cannabis and nicotine consumption landscape.”
“We were very excited when David Paton joined our science and strategic advisory board and thrilled that he will be joining Philter as the company’s chief innovations officer. His role will be key to shoring up more of our IP and helping the company reach its innovation goals. David will also support product development to launch the industry’s first vaping/smoking device for organic substrates with Philter patented filtration to eradicate secondhand smoke,” said Christos Nicolaidis, Philter CEO.
June 16, 2023
Betting on Weed

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BAT has further increased its investments in the cannabis industry.
By Stefanie Rossel
In its endeavor to transform its business, initiated in 2020 under the slogan “A better tomorrow,” BAT is increasingly focusing on the cannabis sector to diversify beyond tobacco and nicotine. Two years after its first venture into the hemp market, the group currently has partial stakes in 13 cannabis startups, more than any other tobacco company, according to Seeking Alpha, a financial services provider.
BAT’s most recent move in this direction is a joint venture with Denver, Colorado-based cannabidiol (CBD) producer Charlotte’s Web Holdings in early April. BAT’s subsidiary AJNA Bio Sciences, a botanical drug development company focused on mental health and neurological disorders, has teamed up with Charlotte’s Web and is contributing $10 million as the joint venture’s initial investor. AJNA was co-founded and is partially owned by its president, Joel Stanley, the former CEO and chairman of Charlotte’s Web, together with other founding members of Charlotte’s Web.
The aim of the cooperation is to develop from propriety Charlotte’s Web hemp genetics a botanical drug targeting a neurological condition and pursue approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. While the joint venture did not disclose the neurological condition, observers suspect that the drug is aimed at the treatment of seizure disorders. Charlotte’s Web is also the name of a hemp strain from which an oil can be made that can be used to treat Dravet syndrome and other epilepsy diseases.
The strain, which contains 17 percent CBD and 0.5 percent of the psychoactive ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol, was bred in 2011 by the Stanley brothers to treat a young girl suffering from a severe form of pediatric epilepsy that did not respond to commonly used anti-epileptic drugs. Encouraged by the patient’s positive response to their CBD oil, the brothers established a nonprofit organization to give seizure patients access to high-quality cannabis with a high CBD content. With their advocacy, they helped change laws and public perceptions relating to plant-based solutions. Nevertheless, their product did not become the first treatment derived from cannabis plants to receive FDA authorization. That honor fell to Epidiolex, which contains only CBD and was approved by the agency in 2018.
The joint venture, in which BAT holds a 20 percent stake and Charlotte’s Web and AJNA have a 40 percent stake each, will be led by representatives of all three companies. Its clinical and regulatory strategy will be led by Orrin Devinsky, who was a principal investor in the FDA approval of Epidiolex. Apart from being AJNA’s chief medical advisor, he is also the director of New York City University Langone’s Comprehensive Epilepsy Center. The joint venture wants to file an investigational new drug application and commence phase I clinical development in 2023.
In November 2022, BAT paid £48.2 million ($60.36 million) for a 19.9 percent stake in Charlotte’s Web, a leading company in hemp extract products and the only publicly traded CBD B Corp-certified company. According to its latest financial reports, Charlotte’s Web generated revenues of $74.13 million in 2022.
In mid-March, a major shareholder urged BAT to move its primary stock market listing from London to New York. About 60 percent of BAT’s profits come from the U.S. while only 1 percent is generated in the U.K. With a move to the U.S., analysts argued, the FTSE 100-listed company would not only gain an investor base with greater appreciation of reduced-risk products but also be better equipped if it wanted to venture into the cannabis markets. U.K. law prohibits a company from listing if its profits are sourced from recreational cannabis, even if they are earned in a jurisdiction where marijuana is legal. Although similar restrictions currently exist in the U.S., analysts expect these issues to be addressed in the near future.
With its recent investments, BAT continues its exploration of the cannabis business, which started in March 2021, when it acquired a minority stake in Organigram Holdings of Canada for CAD221 million ($175 million at the time). Canada legalized cannabis in October 2018. Through a number of acquisitions and organic growth, Organigram has since become the second-largest licensed cannabis producer in Canada.
Stefanie Rossel is Tobacco Reporter’s editorial contributor. An experienced trade journalist, she combines sharp reporting skills with in-depth knowledge of the tobacco and vapor industries. Prior to joining Tobacco Reporter, Stefanie was editor-in-chief at Tobacco Journal International, where she worked for a decade. Fluent in English, German and French, Stefanie covers tobacco news around the world. She is based in Germany.

May 1, 2023
BAT Partners with Charlotte’s Web

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BAT has partnered with CBD firm Charlotte’s Web to develop a drug for an undisclosed neurological condition, reports Bloomberg. The partnership is part of BAT’s plan to diversify away from cigarettes.
A joint venture between BAT’s subsidiary AJNA BioSciences PBC and Charlotte’s Web, which BAT invested in last year, plans to seek approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a treatment made from hemp extract. AJNA invested $10 million in the deal. Charlotte’s Web and AJNA each own 40 percent of the entity while BAT controls the remaining stake, according to a statement.
April 7, 2023
BAT Design Chief Focuses on Simplicity

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Ken Kim, BAT’s design chief, is the first Korean to oversee the design process of all of BAT’s tobacco products, focusing on simplicity and the user experience, reports The Korea Herald.
“My priority when designing heating tobacco products was that the item should become one of the three products that consumers can carry with them all the time, along with a phone and wallet,” said Kim during an interview.
Kim said that with the latest product, Glo Hyper X2, he and his design team focused on the smallest details, like how consumers with different finger lengths could comfortably close the product’s iris shutter and the most convenient shape for switches used in iris shutters.
“I also held a lot of meetings with the engineers to best design products that have the size and width to fit comfortably in consumers’ hands,” Kim added. “As such, we put a lot of effort into researching how to best design our products. We wondered if consumers will actually take notice of such efforts but concluded that for their satisfaction, this was a duty we must complete.”
Kim highlighted the strengths of products with simple, refined designs. “Designs for a product is only complete when its function part has been fully supplemented,” said Kim.
March 28, 2023
Reynolds Releases Harm Reduction Paper

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Reynolds American Inc., the BAT Group’s U.S. subsidiary, released its inaugural white paper, “Tobacco Harm Reduction: Creating A Better Tomorrow for Public Health in America,” reports PR Newswire. This is the first in a series of white papers aimed at raising awareness on tobacco harm reduction (THR) as a public health strategy that encourages adult smokers who are uninterested in quitting tobacco altogether to migrate to noncombustible product alternatives.
The goal of the Reynolds’ white paper series is to highlight the progress of THR, address the challenges and have dialogue on the path forward.
“THR has the potential to bring about one of the greatest public health achievements of our time,” said Priscilla Samuel, executive vice president of scientific research and development. “We hope the information presented in this white paper will spark renewed conversation on THR among all stakeholders, including regulators and policymakers, which could lead to effective regulation and access to noncombustible product alternatives for adult smokers who are uninterested in quitting.”
March 21, 2023