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| Company type | Public limited company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Tobacco |
| Predecessor | Union Financiere Belge des Tabacs Tabacofina  |
| Founded | 1890 inLondon |
| Founder | Louis Rothman |
| Defunct | 1999; 26 years ago (1999) |
| Fate | Acquired byBritish American Tobacco[1] |
| Successor | Rothmans, Benson & Hedges (Canada) |
| Headquarters | London,United Kingdom |
Key people | Lord Swaythling,Chairman Lord Pritchard,Chairman |
| Products | Cigarettes |
| Footnotes / references Carcinogenicity:IARC group 1 | |
Rothmans International PLC was a Britishtobacco manufacturer. Itsbrands included Rothmans,Player's andDunhill. Its international headquarters were in Hill Street,London and its international operations were run from Denham Place inDenham Village,Buckinghamshire.
The company was listed on theLondon Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of theFTSE 100 Index, but it was acquired byBritish American Tobacco in 1999.[1] Its business was the strongest in the whole of Europe.[2]
The company was founded byLouis Rothman in 1890 as a small kiosk onFleet Street in London. In 1900, Rothman opened a small showroom inPall Mall, from where he launched his famousPall Mallcigarette brand. His reputation was such thatKing Edward VII granted Rothmans aroyal warrant in 1905. Rothmans was first listed on theLondon Stock Exchange in 1929.[3]
In 1954, theRembrandt Tobacco Companyacquired acontrolling interest in Rothmans. Rembrandt was expanding and in 1958 acquiredCarreras, who in turn took a 51% stake inAlfred Dunhill in 1967.
In the 1970s, Rothmans became involved in sponsorships, sponsoring the BritishOlympic team in 1972 and the inauguralHong Kong Sevens in 1976. They also sponsoredRothmans Football Yearbook, an annual football reference book, from 1970 until 2002.
In Malaysia, Rothmans was one of the popular brands of cigarette, so much so that one of theroundabouts inPetaling Jaya was named 'Rothmans Roundabout' owing to its proximity to the former headquarters of Rothmans of Pall Mall Malaysia (now British American Tobacco Malaysia). It has since converted to a 4-wayjunction.[4]
In 1988,Lord Swaythling becamechairman andchief executive.[5]
In January 1996, theRembrandt Group andRichemont merged their tobacco businesses under the "Rothmans International" name.[6] Then, in 1999, Rothmans was acquired byBritish American Tobacco.[1] The takeover resulted in the closure of the RothmansSpennymoor andDarlington manufacturing plants in 2000 and 2001, respectively, with production moved to a larger plant at Southampton.
Rothmans was an active promoter ofmotorsports in the 1980s and 1990s.
From 1982 onwards, Rothmans supported the factoryPorsche sports car racing effort, winning the1982 24 Hours of Le Mans with a 1-2-3 finish with theirPorsche 956. They would win the event a further three times in the 1980s. Rothmans-Porsche also won the1985 World Sportscar Championship before the team officially pulled out of the championship in 1987.
Rothmans were the title and founding partner of the Rothmans-Porsche Challenge Cup single-make Porsche 944 series founded byJack Christie,[7] which ran from 1986 to 1991.
Rothmans sponsorship also extended torallying, where they sponsoredWalter Röhrl's1982World Rally Championship-winningOpel Ascona 400. In 1984 Porsche produced the 911 SC RS rally car specifically for Rothmans with the car being run byDavid Richards and the newly formedProdrive (set up and run by both Ian Parry & David Richards). Rothmans also sponsored the winning Porsche team at the 1986Paris-Dakar rally. Porsche has revived the 911 Dakar model introduced to their 2023 spring lineup being promoted as having roots in the Rothmans 911 and although it is all wheel drive and lifted, it carries the same colors and similar patterns the Rothmans car displayed along with the Rothmans moniker on the sides. That logo has been dropped in exchange for the logo “Roughroads” on the sides. A limited run of 2,500 cars are being made. The original three digit numbers (#175) can be used or any three digit number can be chosen by the buyer. Base price is just over $230,000 and an additional amount of options can add well over $100,000 extra.
Porsche left rallying when theGroup B category was dropped, and Rothmans transferred its association to theSubarurally team, also run by Prodrive (Ian Parry and David Richards). Coincidentally, Richards was sponsored by Rothmans when he was co-drivingAri Vatanen to his privateer1981World Drivers' Championship success aboard theFord Escort RS1800. The association with Prodrive would last until1992, when their sponsorship was replaced by sister brandState Express 555.
Between 1985 and 1993, Rothmans supported the works Honda team inGrand Prix motorcycle racing. Rothmans then sponsoredWilliams-Renault during theFormula 1 World Championship from 1994 until 1997. However, their time with Williams was marred whenAyrton Senna, considered by some to be the greatest Formula 1 driver of all time, died behind the wheel of theRothmans-Williams FW16 during the1994 San Marino Grand Prix. Williams driversDamon Hill andJacques Villeneuve won the F1 title in1996 and1997, respectively, with the team also taking theConstructor's Championship both years. Sponsorship was transferred in 1998 toWinfield, another sister brand.
Rothmans was also the naming rights sponsor for Australian teamAllan Moffat Racing in the early rounds of the inauguralWorld Touring Car Championship in1987 (the Moffat team had a long association with Rothmans who sponsored the team'sMazda RX-7s in the early-mid 1980s inAustralian Touring car racing through theirPeter Stuyvesant brand). Driving aV8 poweredHolden VL Commodore SS Group A, team bossAllan Moffat and co-driverJohn Harvey won the first ever WTCC race, the1987 Monza 500. The pair would later drive the Rothmans sponsored car to outright 4th place in the 1987Spa 24 Hours.
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