Commonwealth and Altadis Moving Under One Roof

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- In May, Altadis USA and Commonwealth Brands unified their sales and marketing teams. Now, the new sales and distribution company has a name: Commonwealth - Altadis Inc.

"Commonwealth-Altadis Inc. brings the outstanding sales and marketing teams of Altadis and Commonwealth together to provide greater sales coverage, a larger portfolio of products and a more comprehensive service to our customers," said Graham Bolt, regional director, Americas. "The combination strengthens our competitive position and enables us to apply our total tobacco focus to our sales expansion strategy. Total tobacco means expertise across tobacco categories at a range of price points, providing unrivalled choice for consumers and customers. Our enhanced total tobacco portfolio includes great cigarette, cigar and fine cut tobacco brands, and we're very excited about driving the growth of our brands and products through a larger, integrated sales team."

Paul Matthews, head of sales, and Russ Mancuso, head of national accounts, will provide day-to-day leadership to Commonwealth - Altadis Inc.'s combined sales force of more than 750.

At the time of the May announcement, Eric Workman, vice president of marketing for Altadis, said the integration was expected to take six months to year. Nearly eight months later, the two are also on the verge of moving their blended family under one roof.

The relocation of Commonwealth's Bowling Green, Ky., operations to Fort Lauderdale, the Florida city Altadis calls home, is underway. The company's Fort Lauderdale offices will be expanded to house its headquarters, and sales and marketing management teams. Strategic resources from the two companies will be integrated to enhance Commonwealth - Altadis Inc.'s capabilities, support continued growth and streamline processes to better service customers and retail partners, according to a company release.

Commonwealth - Altadis Inc. is owned by Imperial Tobacco Group plc.