Davidoff Acquires Camacho

Gregory Mottola
Posted: October 13, 2008

Oettinger Davidoff Group, the parent company of Davidoff of Geneva, announced today that it has taken over the Danlí, Honduras, and Miami, Florida, based Camacho Cigars from the Eiroa family. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Eiroas make Camacho plus nine other brands, including Baccarat and La Fontana. Davidoff is the company behind Davidoff, Avo and Zino cigars, among others.

"With the addition of Camacho Cigars and Mr. Christian Eiroa, the Oettinger Davidoff Group has successfully united two families with a passion for cigars as a premium product and the ambition to strive unceasingly for the highest quality standards," said Reto Cina, chief executive officer of the Oettinger Davidoff Group. The company said the deal also will expand its presence in "its most important cigar market—the U.S.A."

Eiroa, 36, president of Camacho cigars, will remain in his position and be reporting directly to Cina. Eiroa's father, Julio, who ran the company in Honduras, has announced his retirement from the cigar company with this deal and will focus on growing cigar tobacco in the Jamastran Valley. Although the company now belongs to Davidoff, the tobacco fields in Honduras will remain under the ownership of the Eiroa family, said Christian Eiroa this morning, as the farms were not part of the acquisition.

"This deal was over a year in the works and we thought that Davidoff was the best fit," said Eiroa in an interview. "We wanted to make sure that the legacy is protected and that our work team is protected as well. Davidoff gave us that option. Davidoff and Camacho share a lot of the same goals. We both want to protect the brand and we both want to grow. They believe in the brand, they believe in the market, and so do we."

For more on this deal, see the October 21 Cigar Insider.