Thursday, January 25 2007
Nashville - January 24, 2007: It's been officially announced that Henri Wintermans Cigars, USA Inc., a sister company of ST Cigar Group Holdings (STCG) has acquired the renowned US-based cigar company, CAO International.
The
CAO brand, founded by Cano Ozgener, has been an outstanding success with
hand-made cigar connoisseurs.
It has become famous not only for its superb unique quality but also for its innovative product development and marketing concepts led by Tim and Aylin Ozgener which is much acclaimed in the trade and has set new benchmarks in the industry.
STCG is one of the world's largest cigar companies especially known for the world's largest selling small cigar, Café Crème. Other Wintermans brands include the #1 Canadian cigar brand, Colts, and its traditional brands, Henri Wintermans and Nobel Petit.
Tim Ozgener, whom will remain as President of CAO, says, "I am very excited by this new alliance which I feel will offer the company many tremendous opportunities, not only in the United States but internationally, with Henri Winterman's expertise, CAO can evolve to become a truly global brand."
Aylin Ozgener will also continue with the company focusing on special events and trade relations.
Gary Hyams has been appointed Chairman of CAO having previously been Managing Director of Henri Wintermans UK Company, Loretta Cigars. Gary brings a wealth of experience having previously dealt with many major international cigar brands.
Gary Hyams comments, "I have known Cano, Tim, and Aylin for some years now, and I feel what they have achieved with their brand is not only remarkable but will ultimately become one of the legends of the cigar business. We at Wintermans are proud to be associated with such a success story, and we are very much looking forward to firstly retaining the culture of the company, so fundamental to the success, but also in building the company further to meet the high expectations of the brands, consumers and trading partners. We also feel very privileged to be able to continue this special relationship we have with our current suppliers. For me it is all about the team and certainly I believe the best is yet to come." £
