Macau gambling executive linked to mysterious US$1 billion Cohiba cigar deal

Imperial Brands agrees to sell its cigar business to newly formed Hong Kong-based company Allied Cigar Corp

Buyer has executive ties with Macau’s biggest casino junket operator, corporate registry filings show

Reading Time:2 minutes

Delegates to the XIX Havana Cigar Festival look at a box of cigars at the Convention Palace in Havana, Cuba in 2017: Photo: Agence France-Presse

Published: 1:04pm, 12 May 2020Updated: 10:14pm, 12 May 2020

The buyers of Imperial Brands Plc’s premium cigar business, including world-renowned Cohiba, have been shrouded in a smoky veil of secrecy. But one group of investors is being fronted by a Hong Kong businessman who helps run some of Asia’s biggest gambling operations.

Imperial agreed on April 27 to sell its premium cigar business outside the US to Allied Cigar Corp for 1.04 billion euros (US$1.1 billion) part of a disposal of its high-end cigar portfolio that also includes the Romeo y Julieta and Montecristo brands.

A spokesman for UK-listed Imperial declined at the time to provide details on the suitor, while the cigarette maker’s management described the acquirers as “the right long-term owners” for the cigar business in a statement.

Allied Cigar, a private firm incorporated in Hong Kong on March 10, counts Chiu King-yan as board member, with Chiu Ping-shun and Joyce Lam as co-directors, the city’s corporate registry filings show.

01:30

Chiu King-yan is the chief financial officer of SunCity Group Holdings, the publicly traded unit of Macau’s biggest junket operator, which extends credit to casino high rollers. The registry does not have any details on the ownership of Allied Cigar.

There has been no evidence to suggest SunCity is directly involved in the Imperial Brands transaction.