Rothmans International

Rothmans International PLC was a British tobacco manufacturer. Its brands included Rothmans, Player's and Dunhill. Its international headquarters were in Hill Street, London and its international operations were run from Denham Place in Denham Village, Buckinghamshire.

The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, but it was acquired by British American Tobacco in 1999.^[1] Its business was the strongest in the whole of Europe.^[2]

History

The company was founded by

royal warrant in 1905. Rothmans was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1929.^[3]

In 1954, the Rembrandt Tobacco Company acquired a controlling interest in Rothmans. Rembrandt was expanding and in 1958 acquired Carreras, who in turn took a 51% stake in Alfred Dunhill in 1967.

In the 1970s, Rothmans became involved in sponsorships, sponsoring the British

Rothmans 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 the

junction.^[4]

In 1988,

chief executive.^[5]

In January 1996, the Rembrandt Group and Richemont merged their tobacco businesses under the "Rothmans International" name.^[6] Then, in 1999, Rothmans was acquired by British American Tobacco.^[1] The takeover resulted in the closure of the Rothmans Spennymoor and Darlington manufacturing plants in 2000 and 2001, respectively, with production moved to a larger plant at Southampton.

Sponsorship of motorsports

Holden VL Commodore SS Group A of Allan Moffat & John Harvey, winner of the 1987 Monza 500, on display at the Historic Sandown 2009

One of several Porsche 956s sponsored by Rothmans

The Williams FW18 Formula One car sponsored by Rothmans

Rothmans was an active promoter of

motorsports

in the 1980s and 1990s.

From 1982 onwards, Rothmans supported the factory

1985 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 by Jack Christie,^[7] which ran from 1986 to 1991.

Rothmans sponsorship also extended to

Paris-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 “Roughroad” 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 the

1992, when their sponsorship was replaced by sister brand State Express 555

.

Between 1985 and 1993, Rothmans supported the works Honda team in Grand Prix motorcycle racing. Rothmans then transferred their association to Williams during the World Championship from 1994 until 1997. However, their time with Williams was marred when Ayrton Senna, considered by some to be the greatest Formula 1 driver of all time, died behind the wheel of the Rothmans-Williams during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. Damon Hill won the 1996 title and Jacques Villeneuve in 1997. Sponsorship was transferred in 1998 to Winfield, another sister brand.

Rothmans was also the naming rights sponsor for Australian team

Holden VL Commodore SS Group A, team boss Allan Moffat and co-driver John Harvey won the first ever WTCC race, the 1987 Monza 500. The pair would later drive the Rothmans sponsored car to outright 4th place in the 1987 Spa 24 Hours

.