Lane Limited

Lane Limited (Lane) is a long-established manufacturer and/or marketer of a wide range of specialty tobacco products including roll-your-own and pipe tobaccos, Dunhill and State Express 555 premium international cigarettes, little cigars and premium Dunhill cigars.

Lane was originally established in Germany by the Lane family in 1890. The company moved to New York in 1938. Lane relocated to Tucker, Ga., outside Atlanta, in 1983, where it operates two factories, one specializing in pipe and roll-your-own tobaccos, the other principally manufacturing little cigars.

In 1987, Lane was purchased by Rothmans International and subsequently became part of British American Tobacco (BAT) as the result of the global merger of the two companies in 1999. Lane became part of Reynolds American Inc. in 2004.

Lane Limited's Products

Roll-Your-Own Tobacco
Lane Limited has positions in the roll-your-own (RYO) category with its leading brand, Bugler, accounting for 24.5 percent of U.S. RYO sales volume. This brand was launched in the United States in 1932. Midnight Special, a value brand that has undergone rapid growth over recent years, has 7.6 percent of retail volume. Kite, launched in 1934, is the leading menthol RYO in the United States, with 5.2 percent of retail sales volume. Four other RYO brands, Samson, Roll Rich, Jester and Gauloises (marketed on behalf of the European tobacco company Altadis) account for a further 1.4 percent, giving Lane 38.8 percent of total U.S. RYO sales volume.

Premium Cigarettes
Lane Limited is responsible for the U.S. marketing of the Dunhill and State Express 555 premium cigarette brands under an arrangement with British American Tobacco. Lane markets the Cartier brand, Craven A cigarettes manufactured in both Jamaica and Canada, and Gauloises and Gitanes cigarettes on behalf of Altadis. It also manufactures and markets the St. Moritz cigarette brand.

Little Cigars
Winchester is Lane's biggest little cigar brand, with 15.9 percent of U.S. little cigar sales. Winchester, considered the 'Original' little cigar, is sold in seven styles. Captain Black, with three styles, accounts for 4.4 percent of U.S. little cigar sales.

Cigars
Lane Limited markets the Dunhill Aged and the Dunhill Signed ranges of premium cigars in the United States under an agreement with British American Tobacco. Lane also markets a range of 20 styles of Schimmelpenninck cigars from Holland - many of which are sold in distinctive tin packaging.

Pipe Tobaccos
Lane's Captain Black is one of America's leading pipe-tobacco brands, accounting for 12.1 percent of pipe tobacco sold in the United States. Lane's other major popular-priced tobacco brand, Sir Walter Raleigh, with 5.1 percent of sales, was initially sold regionally, beginning in 1884, with national distribution dating from 1927. Lane is represented in the value market segment with its Smoker's Pride brand, which represents 7.5 percent of U.S. pipe-tobacco sales volume. Lane produces bulk pipe-tobaccos for specialist smoke shops, and these bulk blends account for 9.6 percent of U.S. sales volume. Lane also produces private label pipe-tobaccos, which accounted for 7.8 percent of U.S. pipe-tobacco sales in 2003. In total, Lane's pipe-tobacco production accounts for some 43.6 percent of the U.S. pipe-tobacco sales volume.

Other Products
In connection with its leading RYO brand, Bugler, Lane also sells Bugler hand-rolling cigarette machines and Bugler cigarette tubes and papers.

Exports
Lane's products are exported to a diverse range of countries. Leading export markets are Japan, Nigeria, Turkey and Russia, with the distinctive Captain Black brands of pipe tobacco and little cigars being the major exported products.