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131-607: RJR has a large brand portfolio, which includes Camel , Newport , Doral , Eclipse , Kent , and Pall Mall . Other brands commercialized in the past were Barclay , Belair, and Real. The son of a tobacco farmer in Virginia, Richard Joshua "R. J." Reynolds sold his shares of his father's company in Patrick County, Virginia , and ventured to the nearest town with a railroad connection, Winston-Salem, to start his own tobacco company. He bought his first factory building from

262-473: A bidding war ensued between several financial firms to acquire RJR Nabisco. Finally, the private equity takeover firm Kohlberg Kravis and Roberts & Co (commonly referred to as KKR) was responsible for the 1988 leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco. This was documented in several articles in The Wall Street Journal by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar . These articles were later used as

393-469: A reverse takeover of its listed affiliate KKR Private Equity Investors in exchange for a 21% interest in the firm. In November 2008, KKR announced a delay of this transaction until 2009. Shares of KPE had declined significantly in the second half of 2008 with the onset of the credit crunch . KKR announced that it expected to close the transaction in 2009. In October 2009, KKR listed shares in KKR & Co. on

524-602: A $ 638 million block of stock. While KKR no longer had any ownership of RJR Nabisco by 1995, its original investment would not be fully realized until KKR exited its last investment in 2004. After sixteen years of efforts, including contributing new equity, taking RJR public, asset sales, and exchanging shares of RJR for the ownership of Borden, Inc. , KKR finally sold the last remnants of its 1989 investment. In July 2004, KKR agreed to sell its stock in Borden Chemical to Apollo Management for $ 1.2 billion. In

655-464: A 43.54% stake. In August 2019, KKR also acquired a majority stake in German payment service provider to the e-commerce industry Heidelpay from AnaCap Financial Partners for more than €600 million. In December 2019, KKR, together with Alberta Investment Management Corporation , acquired a 65% stake in the controversial Coastal GasLink Pipeline project from TC Energy . The pipeline route crosses

786-559: A Camel silhouette like the one on the Camel logo, after Joe Camel was discontinued. Camel Cash redemption expired on March 31, 2007, angering some smokers who had been saving up the "cash" for years only to find it worthless. In 2010, R. J. Reynolds planned to sell Camel packs showing one of 10 locations to be visited by the Camel mascot , including Seattle, Washington ; Austin, Texas ; San Francisco ; Las Vegas ; New Orleans ; Bonneville Salt Flats ; Sturgis, South Dakota ; Route 66 ; and

917-499: A Canadian income trust . In 2004 a consortium comprising KKR, Bain Capital and real estate development company Vornado Realty Trust announced the $ 6.6 billion acquisition of Toys "R" Us , the toy retailer. A month earlier, Cerberus Capital Management made a $ 5.5 billion offer for both the toy and baby supplies businesses. The Toys "R" Us buyout was one of the largest in several years. Following this transaction, by

1048-485: A careful advertising campaign that included "teasers" simply stating "the Camels are coming", a play on the old Scottish folk song " The Campbells Are Coming ". Another promotion was "Old Joe", a circus camel driven through towns to attract attention and distribute free cigarettes. The brand's slogan, used for decades, was " I'd walk a mile for a Camel! " The iconic style of Camel is the original unfiltered cigarette sold in

1179-717: A defective product on the market. On February 25, 2020, Chief Judge Rodney Gilstrap of the United States District for the Eastern District of Texas determined that Reynolds remained liable for its full portion of an annual $ 8 billion settlement payment based on a settlement agreement that Reynolds reached with the State of Texas in 1998. Reynolds had previously claimed that its divestiture of several brands to Imperial Tobacco Group Brands, LLC had extinguished its obligation to make payments for those brands under

1310-462: A group of divisions that it could sell to reduce debt. Over the coming years, RJR would pursue a number of additional restructurings, equity injections, and public offerings of stock to provide the company with added financial flexibility. KKR contributed $ 1.7 billion of new equity into RJR in July 1990 to complete a restructuring of the company's balance sheet. KKR's equity contribution as part of

1441-422: A leading producer of food and tobacco products, formed in 1985 by the merger of Nabisco Brands and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company . In October of that year, Johnson proposed a $ 17 billion ($ 75 per share) management buyout of the company with the financial backing of investment bank Shearson Lehman Hutton and its parent company, American Express . Several days later, Kravis, who had originally suggested

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1572-432: A less pronounced menthol taste (similar to Lorillard's Newport, which was gaining share), Reynolds decided against using green on the packaging, and instead used black and gold, the colors of luxury European cigarettes. Narrowing the marketing further, Uptown cigarettes were to be packed with filters facing down, the reverse of the usual arrangement. Market research indicated that many African-American smokers open packs from

1703-433: A menthol, in 2001. In 2005 Camel added its name on the cigarette paper and changed the filter color and design on its Oriental version, which was subsequently discontinued, but then reinstated. Also in 2005, Turkish Silvers were introduced, an ultralight version positioned in strength below Turkish Gold "lights" and "full flavor" Turkish Royal. Various Camel Crush and Camel Click cigarettes have also been created and are some of

1834-399: A new $ 17.6 billion fund, the KKR 2006 Fund, with which the firm began executing a series of some of the largest buyouts in history. KKR's $ 44 billion takeover of Texas-based power utility TXU in 2007 proved to be the largest leveraged buyout of the mid-2000s buyout boom and the largest buyout completed to date. Among the most notable companies acquired by KKR in 2006 and 2007 were

1965-616: A number of highly successful investments, the $ 27 million investment in Cobblers ended in bankruptcy. By 1976, tensions had built up between Bear Stearns and Kohlberg, Kravis and Roberts, which led to the formation of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. Most notably, Bear Stearns executive Cy Lewis had rejected repeated proposals to form a dedicated investment fund within Bear Stearns. The name had been planned to be Kohlberg Roberts Kravis, but public relations advisors preferred

2096-499: A platform to buy media properties, initially completing the $ 310 million divisional buyout of the book club division of Macmillan along with the assets of Intertec Publishing Corporation in May 1989. During the early 1990s, K-III continued acquiring publishing assets, including a $ 650 million acquisition from News Corporation in 1991. K-III went public, however instead of cashing out, KKR continued to make new investments in

2227-417: A refusal was not considered impolite: if there was only one cigarette left in the pack and if the pack was not yet opened. A pack opened from the bottom and resting, as it normally did, in a shirt pocket would appear unopened. Therefore, the soldier in possession of cigarettes would be able to avoid having to give too many away." The promotional blitz was scheduled to begin on February 5, 1990, and Philadelphia

2358-459: A single investment in 1990, the first such year since 1982. KKR began to focus primarily on its existing portfolio companies acquired during the buyout boom of the late 1980s. Six of KKR's portfolio companies completed IPOs in 1991, including RJR Nabisco and Duracell . As the new decade began, KKR began restructuring RJR. In January 1990, it completed the sale of RJR's Del Monte Foods to a group led by Merrill Lynch . KKR had originally identified

2489-426: A smoking man, with steam coming from his mouth every few seconds to represent cigarette smoke. The man depicted was replaced periodically (during World War 2, the billboard showed servicemen in uniform). The billboard became a famous landmark and remained in place until 1966. In 1946, Camel advertised their cigarettes as being the favorite choice among doctors "from every branch of medicine", making smokers believe it

2620-559: A soft pack, known as Camel Straights or Regulars. Its popularity peaked through the brand's use by famous personalities such as news broadcaster Edward R. Murrow , whose usage of them was so heavy and so public that the smoking of a Camel no-filter became his trademark. In Europe, Camel is also a brand of cigarette rolling papers and loose cigarette tobacco, maintaining a top 20 roll-your-own rank in Northern Europe with yearly expansion into Southern and Eastern Europe according to

2751-407: A very typical urinating child from Belgium). When examined closely, some people claim to see a man with an erection in the shadows on the camel's left leg. Another legend says the leg image is a nude woman. Some people claim that you can see the image of a baboon or another type of monkey on the back of the dromedary, some even say that you can see eagles near the head and a fish in the central area. It

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2882-644: A year later announced it would buy Nabisco Group Holdings Inc., the company that had been RJR Nabisco. This followed the sale of Nabisco Holdings Group to Philip Morris . In 1994, then CEO James Johnston testified under oath before Congress, saying that he didn't believe that nicotine is addictive. In 1998, the company was part of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement with 46 U.S. states, agreeing to pay smoking-related health care costs and restrict advertising in return for protection against private lawsuits. In 1999, R. J. Reynolds

3013-447: Is considered unlikely that these images were drawn on purpose, rather they are the product of the shading of the drawing. Camel was a sponsor of various Formula One teams, either as a major or a minor sponsor. Camel sponsored the AGS team in 1989 . The logos were placed on the side of the cars, and on the drivers' helmets. In races where tobacco sponsorship was forbidden, the Camel name

3144-524: Is headquartered at 30 Hudson Yards , Manhattan, New York, with offices in Beijing , Dubai , Dublin , Houston, Hong Kong , London , Luxembourg , Madrid , Menlo Park , Mumbai , Paris , Riyadh , San Francisco , São Paulo , Seoul , Singapore , Shanghai , Sydney and Tokyo . In a 2016 interview with Bloomberg, founder Henry Kravis described KKR in terms of three broad buckets: private markets, public markets, and capital markets. While running

3275-640: Is located in the town of Tobaccoville , North Carolina near Winston-Salem. Macon manufacturing, located in Macon, Georgia, resides in a 1.4-million-square-foot (130,000 m) facility built in 1974. This manufacturing plant was formerly known as Brown & Williamson, which was purchased by Reynolds and eventually closed in 2006. R. J. Reynolds has a tobacco-sheet manufacturing operation in Winston-Salem. The sheet manufacturing operation in Chester, Virginia,

3406-454: Is set to make an investment into Indian digital company Jio Platforms . It was reported that KKR was negotiating to buy a $ 1.5bn stake of a maximum value reach of $ 65bn for Jio Platforms. In late June 2020, KKR announced it would lead a $ 48 million funding round for Artlist, a provider of royalty-free music , sound effects and video. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic , the company reported

3537-421: The 1998 tobacco settlement . Reynolds denied that children were being targeted and said the campaign did not go against the settlement. Other cities and states also stated their objections, including San Francisco and Seattle. According to a legend, the artist who drew the image of the camel was Belgian and did not like the marketing manager of Camel so he introduced a design of Manneken Pis (a bronze statue of

3668-463: The Balkans . The suits were unsuccessful. On July 30, 2004, R. J. Reynolds merged with the U.S. operations of British American Tobacco (operating under the name of Brown & Williamson ). A new parent holding company , Reynolds American Inc., was established as part of the transaction. In May 2006 former R. J. Reynolds vice-president of sales Stan Smith pleaded guilty to charges of defrauding

3799-709: The Euronext exchange, replacing KPE, and anticipated a listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2010. The public entity represented a 30% interest in Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. In December 2011, Samson Investment Company was acquired by a group of private equity investors led by KKR for approximately $ 7.2 billion and Samson Resources Corporation was formed. With the severe downturn in oil and natural gas prices, in September 2015,

3930-532: The Government of Canada of $ 1.2 billion (CDN) through a cigarette smuggling operation. Smith confessed to overseeing the 1990s operation while employed by RJR. Canadian-brand cigarettes were smuggled out of and back into Canada, or smuggled from Puerto Rico , and sold on the black market to avoid taxes. The judge referred to it as biggest fraud case in Canadian history. Since 2006, R. J. Reynolds has been

4061-584: The IMSA Camel GT for sportscars . The NHRA sponsorship lasted up to 2001, before a new governing rule called the Master Settlement Agreement , which restricted R. J. Reynolds to one sponsorship of a sporting event; the company sponsored NASCAR up to 2003 . The Lotus Formula One team was sponsored by Camel from 1987 until 1990. RJR brand Winston was a sponsor of the 1982 FIFA World Cup whilst fellow RJR brand Camel

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4192-571: The Minardi F1 team in 1988 . The logos were shown on the side of the car. Camel sponsored the Tyrrell Racing team in the 1988 and 1989 seasons. In 1988, the logos were displayed on the top of the car, on the front of the nose, on the top side of the rear wing and on the driver's helmets because it was a minor sponsor, but in 1989 Camel was the main sponsor and the logos were more prominently shown. In races where tobacco sponsorship

4323-474: The Moravian Church and established the "little red factory" with seasonal workers. The first year, he produced 150,000 pounds (68,000 kg) of tobacco; by the 1890s, production had increased to several million pounds per year. The company's factory buildings were the largest buildings in Winston-Salem, with new technologies such as steam power and electric lights. The second primary factory building

4454-527: The Oregon State Treasury's public pension fund invested in KKR's acquisition of retailer Fred Meyer, Inc. Oregon State remains an active investor in KKR funds. In 1979 KKR completed a risky, precedent-setting ($ 380 million) public-to-private leveraged buyout of a large conglomerate Houdaille Industries , a well-known producer of machine tools, industrial pipes, chrome-plated car bumpers and torsional viscous dampers, which they signed

4585-835: The Seven Network of Australia. On January 23, 2007, KKR announced it would invest $ 700 million through a PIPE investment in Sun Microsystems . In January 2008, KKR announced it had made a $ 1.25 billion PIPE investment in Legg Mason through a convertible preferred stock offering. In addition to its successful buyout transactions, KKR was involved in the failed buyout of Harman International Industries ( NYSE :  HAR ) , an upscale audio equipment maker. On April 26, 2007, Harman announced it had entered an agreement to be acquired by KKR and Goldman Sachs . In September 2007, KKR and Goldman backed out of

4716-477: The Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn . The Winston-Salem package showed a tobacco field and the city's skyline, including the former R. J. Reynolds headquarters. During a 10-week period, visitors to a website were asked to guess which city would be next. Matthew Myers, president of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids , accused the company of targeting children once again, saying, "The new campaign cynically uses

4847-523: The credit rating of RJR's debt from junk to investment grade . KKR began to reduce its ownership in RJR in 1994, when its stock in RJR was used as part of the consideration for its leveraged buyout of Borden, Inc. , a producer of food and beverage products, consumer products, and industrial products. The following year, in 1995, KKR would divest itself of its final stake in RJR Nabisco when Borden sold

4978-461: The "Little Red Factory" in 1892. It was uncertain whether it was torn down or made a part of Building 256-1, one of several red brick buildings on Chestnut Street built between 1911 and 1925. Much of the Building 256 complex burned in one of the city's worst fires ever on August 27, 1998, when the former factories were being renovated for Piedmont Triad Research Park . Albert Hall, or Building 256-9,

5109-518: The $ 8 billion buyout of Harman. By the end of the day, Harman's shares had plummeted by more than 24% upon the news. In 2007, KKR filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to raise $ 1.25 billion by selling an ownership interest in its management company. The filing came less than two weeks after the initial public offering of rival private equity firm Blackstone Group . KKR had previously listed its KPE vehicle in 2006, but for

5240-506: The 1990s would be one of its least successful. In January 1998, KKR and Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst agreed to the $ 1.5 billion buyouts of Regal Entertainment Group . KKR and Hicks Muse had initially intended to combine Regal with Act III Cinemas , which KKR had acquired in 1997 for $ 706 million and United Artists Theaters , which Hicks Muse had agreed to acquire for $ 840 million in November 1997. Shortly after agreeing to

5371-660: The 1998 Settlement Agreement. Chief Judge Gilstrap disagreed in a 92-page memorandum opinion and order, finding that Reynolds's position was "oppressive, inequitable, and unreasonable" in addition to being contrary to governing law. R. J. Reynolds brands include Newport , Camel , Doral , Eclipse , Kent and Pall Mall . Brands still manufactured but no longer receiving significant marketing support include Capri , Carlton, GPC, Lucky Strike , Misty, Monarch, More , Now, Old Gold , Tareyton , Vantage , and Viceroy . Discontinued brands include Barclay , Belair, and Real. The company also manufactures certain private-label brands. Five of

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5502-482: The 2007 buyout of TXU , which is currently the largest buyout completed to date. In October 2009, KKR listed shares in the company through KKR & Co., an affiliate that holds 30% of the firm's ownership equity , with the remainder held by the firm's partners. In March 2010, KKR filed to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), with trading commencing four months later, on July 15, 2010. The firm employed 4,490 employees as of December 31, 2023. KKR

5633-756: The 21-story building was designed by the same architects ( Shreve & Lamb ) who later designed the Empire State Building in New York City . The first R. J. Reynolds buildings on present-day Reynolds Boulevard (formerly 33rd Street) were the three-story leaf buildings , the 2-1 building built in 1937 and the 2-2 building in 1955. These were named to the National Register of Historic Places in October 2017, and in October 2019 C.A. Harrison Cos. LLC, developer of Plant 64, announced

5764-526: The 426,800-square-foot 601-11 building as a distribution center, and Nature's Value bought that building in August 2021. On August 23, 2023, Cook Medical, which paid $ 4 million for its space in Whitaker Park in 2021, announced it would sell because the remote work trend meant it no longer needed the space. Purple Crow chief executive and president Dan Calhoun confirmed his company had a contract to buy

5895-479: The Australian hospitality industry with a portfolio of 200+ venues. In mid-July 2018, KKR purchased RBMedia , one of the largest independent publishers and distributors of audiobooks . On July 22, 2018, KKR & Co. announced it was taking over Taipei-based LCY Chemical Corp. in a deal valued at NT$ 47.8 billion ($ 1.56 billion US), part of a plan for more transactions involving controlling stakes in

6026-715: The Camel Trophy, a vehicle-oriented competition that was held annually between 1980 and 2000. It was best known for its use of Land Rover vehicles over challenging terrain. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts KKR & Co. Inc. , also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. , is an American global investment company . As of December 31, 2023 , the firm had completed private equity investments in portfolio companies with approximately $ 710 billion of total enterprise value. Its assets under management (AUM) and fee paying assets under management (FPAUM) were $ 553 billion and $ 446 billion, respectively. KKR

6157-710: The Company went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and during its bankruptcy process, sold several large assets. In 2012, KKR made its first retail real-estate investment in Yorktown Center in Illinois. In March 2013, KKR exited its joint venture in music company BMG Rights Management , selling its 51% stake to Bertelsmann . In January 2014, KKR acquired Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc for $ 2.4 billion from two private equity companies - Stone Point, and Hellman & Friedman . In June 2014, KKR announced it

6288-539: The European Subsidiary's annual report. In 1999, Japan Tobacco International gained ownership of the rights to sell Camel outside the United States. The tobacco blend of the non-American Camel contains less Oriental tobacco and a higher proportion of Burley. On July 1, 2000, an "Oriental" variety of Camel was introduced, followed by Turkish Gold, a regular cigarette, in 2000, and Turkish Jade,

6419-461: The Forstmann consortium came apart and did not provide a final bid for RJR. In November 1988, RJR set guidelines for a final bid submission at the end of the month. The management and Shearson group submitted a final bid of $ 112, a figure they felt certain would enable them to outflank any response by Kravis and KKR. KKR's final bid of $ 109, while a lower dollar figure, was ultimately accepted by

6550-728: The Greater China region. In July 2018, it was announced that KKR sold Gallagher Shopping Park, West Midlands in the UK to South Korean investors, Hana for £175 million. In February 2019, KKR acquired Brightsprings, and in a May 2022 letter from four United States Senators, Joe Bae and Scott Nutall were asked to explain the substandard care since their acquisition. KKR acquired the German media company Tele München Gruppe . Later that month, KKR acquired German film distributor Universum Film GmbH. In Apri 2019, KKR acquired German film production company Wiedemann & Berg Film Production with

6681-463: The Regal takeover, the deal with United Artists fell apart, destroying the strategy to eliminate costs by building a larger combined company. Two years later, in 2000, Regal encountered significant financial issues and was forced to file for bankruptcy protection; the company passed to billionaire investor Philip Anschutz . At the start of the 21st century, the landscape of large leveraged buyout firms

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6812-445: The U.S. Most recently Camel cigarettes contain a blend of Turkish tobacco and Virginia tobacco . Winston-Salem, North Carolina , the city where R. J. Reynolds was founded, is nicknamed "Camel City" because of the brand's popularity. In 1913, Richard Joshua "R. J." Reynolds , founder of the company that still bears his name , innovated the packaged cigarette. Prior cigarette smokers had rolled their own, which tended to obscure

6943-405: The U.S. Army during World War I , Kleesattel worked as a camouflage artist, disguising buildings, vehicles, and other potential targets by making them blend with their surroundings. In an apparent attempt to counter Lucky Strike 's popular "It's Toasted" campaign, Camel went in the opposite direction by boasting that Camel was a "fresh" cigarette "never parched or toasted." In 1936, Camel used

7074-716: The US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation . In January 1996, KKR would exchange its investment for a 7.5% interest in Fleet Bank . KKR completed the 1992 buyout of American Re Corporation from Aetna as well as a 47% interest in TW Corporation , later known as The Flagstar Companies and owner of Denny's in 1992. Among the other notable investments KKR completed in the early 1990s included World Color Press (1993–95), RELTEC Corporation (1995) and Bruno's (1995). By

7205-631: The Whitaker Park plant was consolidated in the more-modern Tobaccoville plant. On January 7, 2015, Reynolds announced that Whitaker Park was being donated to Whitaker Park Development Authority Inc., started in April 2011 by Winston-Salem Business Inc., the Winston-Salem Alliance and Wake Forest University . In 2019 Cook Medical announced it would buy the 850,000-square-foot 601-1 building with plans to move its 650 employees there by 2022. As of October 2019, Hanesbrands had taken over space in

7336-519: The Whitaker Park plant. At the same time, the company had plans for a new skyscraper downtown. The current headquarters, the RJR Plaza Building , is 16 stories tall and was completed in 1982 adjacent to the original 1929 Reynolds Building. The tobacco company moved its headquarters to RJR Plaza in 1982, and the 1929 building continued to be used for some company offices until 2009; the older building stood vacant until new owners in 2014 began

7467-623: The ability to make changes within the system due to their wealth and enormous power. Despite repeated refusals to meet from CEO Susan Ivey, FLOC continues the campaign against R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. In 2010, Reynolds American announced that the company would close its manufacturing plants in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Puerto Rico. Production from these plants will be moved to the Tobaccoville, North Carolina , plant. On July 15, 2014, Reynolds American agreed to buy Lorillard Tobacco Company for $ 27.4 billion. The deal also included

7598-480: The association to ask RJR to terminate the Joe Camel campaign. RJR declined, but further appeals followed in 1993 and 1994. On July 10, 1997, the Joe Camel campaign was retired and replaced with a more adult campaign which appealed to the desires of its mid-20s target market. Camel paid millions of dollars to settle lawsuits accusing them of using Joe Camel to market smoking to children. "Camel Cash", or " C-Note ",

7729-680: The basis of a bestselling book, Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco , and then into a television movie . As a result, in February 1989, RJR Nabisco paid executive F. Ross Johnson US$ 53,800,000 as part of a golden handshake clause, the largest such deal in history at the time, as severance compensation for his acceptance of the KKR takeover. He used the money to open his own investment firm, RJM Group, Inc. In 1999 RJR Nabisco spun off R. J. Reynolds Tobacco, which began trading on June 15 as R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings, Inc., and

7860-442: The board of directors of RJR Nabisco. KKR's offer was guaranteed, whereas the management offer lacked a "reset", meaning that the final share price might have been lower than their stated $ 112 per share. Additionally, many in RJR's board of directors had grown concerned at recent disclosures of Ross Johnson's unprecedented golden parachute deal. Time magazine featured Johnson on the cover of their December 1988 issue along with

7991-448: The bottom, possibly to avoid crushing the filters. It was later discovered that cigarette packs were opened from the bottom for a different reason: "This phenomenon traces back at least to World War II, when cigarettes were a valued commodity among soldiers. Often a soldier temporarily without cigarettes and without funds would bum a smoke from a fellow soldier. It was impolite to refuse such a request. However, there were two occasions when

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8122-442: The buildings would be renovated for loft apartments. Built in 1961 at a cost of $ 32 million ($ 271 million in 2023 dollars), the Whitaker Park plant had 790,300 square feet of manufacturing space and was considered "the world's largest and most modern cigarette-manufacturing plant". It was announced in May 2010 that cigarette manufacturing would cease at Whitaker Park; by mid-2011, this had been done. Manufacturing formerly performed at

8253-439: The buyout. KKR collected a $ 75 million fee in the RJR takeover. At $ 31.1 billion of а transaction value (including assumed debt), RJR Nabisco was, at the time, by far the largest leveraged buyout in history. The buyout of RJR Nabisco was completed in April 1989 and KKR would spend the early 1990s repaying the RJR's enormous debt load through a series of asset sales and restructuring transactions. KKR did not complete

8384-524: The car. In races where tobacco sponsorship was forbidden, the Camel name was either replaced with blue gaps, the Camel logo or the "Benetton" name instead. Camel was a sponsor of the Larrousse F1 team in the 1988 and 1989 seasons. The logos were displayed on the top of the nose section, right in the front of the driver, on the side of the car and on the drivers helmets. Camel was a sponsor of Team Lotus from 1987 to 1990 . Camel sponsored

8515-405: The charges and declared that smoking is "an adult custom". By 1953, R. J. Reynolds held an internal belief that cigarettes caused cancer. On February 2 of that year, R. J. Reynolds research chemist and executive Claude Teague released 'Survey of Cancer Research', a confidential internal document for R. J. Reynolds upper management. He concluded that clinical data was confirming the fact that tobacco

8646-603: The cigarettes in the state. Reynolds Co.'s success during this period can also be measured by the concurrent success of many Winston-Salem companies that received large amounts of business from Reynolds: Wachovia National Bank became one of the largest banks in the Southeast, and the company's law firm Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice became the largest law firm in North Carolina. R. J. Reynolds Tobacco diversified into other areas, buying Pacific Hawaiian Products,

8777-419: The company board room until 41 years later. Reynolds's brother William Neal Reynolds took over following Reynolds's death, and six years later Bowman Gray became the chief executive. By that time, Reynolds Co. was the top taxpayer in the state of North Carolina, paying $ 1 out of every $ 2.50 paid in income taxes in the state, and was one of the most profitable corporations in the world. It made two-thirds of

8908-409: The company bought 84 acres (34 ha) of property in Winston-Salem and built 180 houses that it sold at cost to workers, to form a development called "Reynoldstown". At the time Reynolds died in 1918 (of pancreatic cancer ), his company owned 121 buildings in Winston-Salem. He was so integral to company operations that executives did not hang another chief executive's portrait next to Reynolds's in

9039-451: The company in 1998, 2000 and 2001 to support acquisition activity. In 2005, Primedia redeemed KKR's preferred stock in the company but KKR was estimated to have lost hundreds of millions of dollars on its common stock holdings as the price of the company's stock collapsed. In 1991, KKR partnered with Fleet/Norstar Financial Group in the 1991 acquisition of the Bank of New England , from

9170-477: The company's brands are among the top ten best selling cigarette brands in the United States, and it is estimated that one in three cigarettes sold in the country were manufactured by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. In 2010 R. J. Reynolds acquired the rights to the smokeless tobacco products Kodiak and Grizzly dip . In 1990, R. J. Reynolds planned to launch a new cigarette brand called Uptown, aimed primarily at African-Americans. To appeal to black Americans seeking

9301-472: The corporate finance department for Bear Stearns in the 1960s and 1970s, Jerome Kohlberg , and later Henry Kravis and George Roberts , completed a series of what they described as "bootstrap" investments. They targeted family-owned businesses, many of which had been founded in the years following World War II , that were facing succession issues. Many of these companies lacked a viable exit for their founders because they were too small to be taken public and

9432-593: The desert motifs have been replaced by health warnings. On others, Kleesattel included " Manneken Pis ", a historical figure of Brussels . Known as "Fritz", Kleesattel was a highly sought after graphic designer living in Louisville, Kentucky . He was hired through his company, Klee Ad Art, to design the packaging for the new Camel cigarettes' line. Klee Ad Art was also integral in devising designs for Four Roses Distillery, Heaven Hill Distilleries , and many other now immediately recognizable U.S. brands. While serving in

9563-482: The design for a "brand of Turkish Cigarettes which we [Reynolds Tobacco] are about to put on the market." The Reynolds company commissioned Fred Otto Kleesattel in 1913 to draw the original artwork. The signature scene on most Camel cigarette packs shows a single dromedary, the smallest of the three species of camel, standing on desert sand, with pyramids and palm trees in the background. The back features bazaars and mosques. On European and some other non-U.S. versions,

9694-553: The early 1960s. Building 91, a machine shop built in 1937, was later renovated and became part of the research park. Bailey Power Plant, a coal-fired plant built in 1947, included Buildings 23-1, 23-2 and the Morris Building, and was used until 1997 and later became part of the research park. The company's headquarters were located in the Reynolds Building in Winston-Salem for more than 50 years. Built in 1929,

9825-484: The early 1990s, the absence of an active high yield market prompted KKR to change its tactics, avoiding large leveraged buyouts in favor of industry consolidations through what was described as leveraged buildups or rollups . One of KKR's largest investments in the 1990s was the leveraged buildup of Primedia in partnership with former executives of Macmillan Publishing , which KKR had failed to acquire in 1988. KKR created Primedia's predecessor, K-III Communications ,

9956-536: The end of 2004 and in 2005, major buyouts were once again becoming common and market observers were stunned by the leverage levels and financing terms obtained by financial sponsors in their buyouts. In 2005, KKR was one of seven private equity firms involved in the buyout of SunGard in a transaction valued at $ 11.3 billion. KKR's partners in the acquisition were Silver Lake Partners , Bain Capital , Goldman Sachs Capital Partners , Blackstone Group , Providence Equity Partners , and TPG Capital . This represented

10087-513: The firm invested $ 90 million in lighting and electrics firm Savant Systems . Also in 2014, KKR acquired commercial landscaping company ValleyCrest from Michael Dell 's investment firm MSD Capital , and combined it with landscape company Brickman, which it had owned since 2013, to form BrightView. In January 2015, KKR confirmed its purchase of the British rail ticket website thetrainline.com , previously owned by Exponent. The purchase sum

10218-485: The firm was responsible for the 1988 leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco . RJR Nabisco was the largest buyout in history at that time, at $ 25 billion, and remained the largest buyout for the next 17 years. The deal was chronicled in Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco , and later made into a television movie starring James Garner . In 1988, F. Ross Johnson was the president and CEO of RJR Nabisco ,

10349-516: The firm's use of hostile tactics in the buyout of RJR. KKR proposed to provide a joint offer with Johnson and Shearson Lehman but was rebuffed and Johnson attempted to stonewall KKR's access to financial information from RJR. Rival private equity firm Forstmann Little & Co. was invited into the process by Shearson Lehman but attempted to provide a bid for RJR with a consortium of Goldman Sachs Capital Partners , Procter & Gamble , Ralston Purina and Castle & Cooke . Ultimately,

10480-475: The first time, KKR would offer investors an ownership interest in the management company itself. The onset of the credit crunch and the shutdown of the IPO market dampened the prospects of obtaining a valuation attractive to KKR. The flotation was repeatedly postponed and called off by the end of August. The following year, in July 2008, KKR announced a new plan to list its shares. The plan called for KKR to complete

10611-470: The following month, it acquired PharMerica for $ 1.4 billion including debt, Pepper Group for $ 518 million, Covenant Surgical Partners, and Envision Healthcare Corporation's ambulance business ( American Medical Response, Inc. (AMR) ) for $ 2.4 billion. On July 6, 2017, KKR announced it would merge Northern California Mi Pueblo and Ontario-based Cardenas Market. On September 18, 2017, Toys "R" Us, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy , stating

10742-487: The following: Other non-buyout investments completed by KKR during this period included Legg Mason , Sun Microsystems , Tarkett, Longview Power Plant , and Seven Network . In October 2006, KKR acquired a 50% stake in Tarkett, a France-based distributor of flooring products, in a deal valued at about €1.4 billion ($ 1.8 billion). On November 20, 2006, KKR announced it would form a A$ 4 billion partnership with

10873-665: The founders were reluctant to sell out to competitors. In 1964, Lewis Cullman acquired and then sold Orkin Exterminating Company in what some call the first significant leveraged buyout transaction. In the following years the three Bear Stearns bankers completed a series of buyouts including Stern Metals (1965), Incom (a division of Rockwood International, 1971), Cobblers Industries (1971), and Boren Clay (1973), as well as Thompson Wire, Eagle Motors and Barrows through their investment in Stern Metals. Despite

11004-420: The headline, "A Game of Greed: This man could pocket $ 100 million from the largest corporate takeover in history. Has the buyout craze gone too far?". KKR's offer was welcomed by the board, and, to some observers, it appeared that their elevation of the reset issue as a deal-breaker in KKR's favor was little more than an excuse to reject Johnson's higher bid of $ 112 per share. Johnson received $ 53 million from

11135-581: The idea of the buyout to Johnson, presented a new bid for $ 20.3 billion ($ 90 per share) financed with an aggressive debt package. KKR had the support of equity co-investments from pension funds and other institutional investors , including Coca-Cola , Georgia-Pacific and United Technologies corporate pension funds, as well as endowments from MIT , Harvard and the New York State Common Retirement Fund . However, KKR faced criticism from existing investors over

11266-591: The largest leveraged buyout completed since the takeover of RJR Nabisco in 1988. SunGard was the largest buyout of a technology company until the Blackstone -led buyout of Freescale Semiconductor . The SunGard transaction was notable given the number of firms involved in the transaction, the largest club deal completed to that point. The involvement of seven firms in the consortium was criticized by investors in private equity who considered cross-holdings among firms to be generally unattractive. In 2006, KKR raised

11397-407: The latter company's television arm W&B Television remained a separate entity. Two months later in July 2019, KKR acquired the Canadian software company Corel . In August 2019, KKR acquired Arnott's , the Australian snack unit of Campbell Soup Company , for $ 2.2 billion. Later that month, KKR became the biggest shareholder of German media group Axel Springer , paying $ 3.2 billion for

11528-463: The library and publishing industry; the acquisition was finalized in June 2020. In May 2020, KKR announced that it will be investing $ 750 million in cosmetics producer Coty . A separate plan was revealed in which several divisions of Coty are set to be spun out into a new company. According to the deal, KKR will own 60%, while Coty 40% of the new business. The same month, it was announced that KKR

11659-421: The makers of Hawaiian Punch , in 1962, Sea-Land Service in 1969, and Del Monte Foods in 1979. Sea-Land was spun off in 1984. Because of the company's diversification, the company changed its name to R. J. Reynolds Industries, Inc. in 1970. R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. was a subsidiary. R. J. Reynolds Industries merged with Nabisco Brands in 1985, and the name changed to RJR Nabisco in August 1986. In 1987,

11790-712: The mascot for their Camel brand of cigarette, Joe Camel . Joe Camel, an anthropomorphic cartoon camel wearing sunglasses, was claimed to be a ploy to entice and interest the underaged in smoking. R. J. Reynolds maintained that Joe's "smooth character" was meant only to appeal to adult smokers. This criticism was reinforced by a 1991 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showing that more children five and six years old could recognize Joe Camel than could recognize Mickey Mouse or Fred Flintstone (coincidentally, Fred Flintstone

11921-463: The mid-1990s, the debt markets were improving and KKR had moved on from the RJR Nabisco buyout. In 1996, KKR was able to complete the bulk of fundraising for what was then a record $ 6 billion private equity fund, the KKR 1996 Fund. However, KKR was still burdened by the performance of the RJR investment and repeated obituaries in the media. KKR was required by its investors to reduce the fees it charged and to calculate its carried interest based on

12052-636: The most popular Camel variants being sold. In 2012, Camel was surpassed by Pall Mall as R. J. Reynolds' most popular brand. In June 2012, Camel Filters were discontinued in the United Kingdom. In 2013, Camel celebrated its 100th anniversary. Professor Robert N. Proctor of Stanford University commented on the occasion with an editorial in the Los Angeles Times , noting that over the last century, Camel sold over 4 trillion cigarettes and "have probably caused about 4 million deaths." In

12183-489: The most popular cigarette in the country. The Reynolds company imported so much French cigarette paper and Turkish tobacco for Camel cigarettes that Winston-Salem was designated by the United States federal government as an official port of entry for the United States, despite the city being 200 miles (320 km) inland. Winston-Salem was the eighth-largest port of entry in the United States by 1916. In 1917,

12314-513: The move would give it flexibility to deal with $ 5 billion in long-term debt, borrow $ 2 billion so it would be able to pay suppliers for the upcoming holiday season and invest in improving current operations. During 2017, KKR purchased an 80 percent stake in Dixon Hospitality Group for A$ 190 million in 2017 which turned into the company Australian Venue Co. (AVC). AVC is a food and beverage-focused operator in

12445-526: The names and images of trendy U.S. destinations ... in an attempt to make Camel cigarettes cool again." David Howard of R. J. Reynolds emphasized the campaign was geared toward adults and pointed out only adults could access the website. New York City health commissioner Thomas Farley and the National Association of Attorneys General both sent Reynolds letters asking that the campaign be stopped. The organization said that it violated

12576-428: The neighborhood and by the targeted upscale market, according to company officials. The lounge has since been closed due to Illinois indoor smoking restrictions. The company planned to open a second location in Winston-Salem in the summer of 2007, but abandoned those plans within weeks of opening, citing the increasing number of smoking restrictions in public places by state and local governments. In 1987, RJR resurrected

12707-465: The original leveraged buyout of RJR had been only $ 1.5 billion. In mid-December 1990, RJR announced an exchange offer that would swap debt in RJR for a new public stock in the company, effectively an unusual means of taking RJR public again and simultaneously reducing debt on the company. RJR issued additional stock to the public in March 1991 to reduce debt further, resulting in an upgrade of

12838-468: The potential for a national market for a pre-packaged product. Reynolds worked to develop a more appealing flavor, creating the Camel cigarette, which he so named because it used Turkish tobacco in imitation of then-fashionable Egyptian cigarettes . Reynolds priced them below competitors, and within a year, he had sold 425 million packs. Camel cigarettes were originally blended to have a milder taste than established brands. They were advance-promoted by

12969-423: The previous year. It soon ended in a spectacular failure, breakup of the half-a-century-old company and loss of thousands of jobs, even though creditors earned a profit. The firm's acquisitions during the 1980s buyout boom include: At age 61, Kohlberg resigned in 1987 (he later founded his own private equity firm, Kohlberg & Co. ), and Henry Kravis succeeded him as senior partner. Under Kravis and Roberts,

13100-498: The primary occupants in 2015. The Ziglar Sheds, Buildings 82 and 83 on East 25th Street in Winston-Salem, were built in the 1920s, the first warehouses built for tobacco storage according to company specifications, and sold in 1992. In 2024 they were being considered for the National Register of Historic Places. R. J. Reynolds's largest plant, Tobaccoville, a 2-million-square-foot (190,000 m) facility constructed in 1986,

13231-576: The process to convert it to a hotel. With the parent company (renamed RJR Nabisco in 1985 after merging with Nabisco) planning to move its headquarters to Atlanta in September 1987, the company donated the World Headquarters Building to Wake Forest University in January 1987, and in July of that year, the company voted to move its Planters - Life Savers division to one-third of that building. In May 1999, BB&T bought what

13362-539: The property. Purple Crow, which had already asked for incentives from the city, pledged in its incentive request to spend $ 50 million and create 274 jobs, nearly doubling its area work force. 18 buildings and 100 acres in the area continue to be used for tobacco processing and warehousing. In September 1977, R. J. Reynolds Industries moved the first of 1200 headquarters employees into the not-yet-completed, $ 40 million, 519,000-square-foot glass and steel World Headquarters Building being built across Reynolds Boulevard from

13493-614: The sale of the Kool , Winston , Salem , and blu brands to Imperial Tobacco for $ 7.1 billion. In January 2017, Reynolds American agreed to a $ 49.4 billion deal to be taken over by British American Tobacco . The deal was completed July 25, 2017. From 1972, R. J. Reynolds was a title sponsor of the NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series, the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and until 1993 ,

13624-547: The same editorial, Proctor also stated that about half as many cigarettes are being sold to Americans in 2013 than in 1981. The photograph used for the Camel design was taken on September 29, 1913, by Andrew Jackson Farrell, a Winston-Salem based photographer. Farrell and Mr. R. C. Haberkern of the Reynolds Tobacco Company went to the Barnum & Bailey Circus to photograph a camel and a dromedary to use in

13755-494: The slogan "For digestion's sake – smoke Camels." The ads ran from 1936 to 1939. In 1951, over a decade after the ad campaign ended, the FTC issued a cease-and-desist order prohibiting R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) from claiming that Camels aided digestion in any respect. In 1941, Camel installed a 30-by-100-foot (9.1 by 30.5 m) billboard on the east side of Times Square , New York. Designed by Douglas Leigh , this showed

13886-553: The sound of KKR. The new KKR completed its first buyout, of manufacturer A.J. Industries, in 1976. KKR raised capital from a small group of investors including the Hillman Company and First Chicago Bank . By 1978, with the revision of the ERISA regulations, the nascent KKR was successful in raising its first institutional fund with over $ 30 million of investor commitments. In 1981, KKR expanded its investor base after

14017-453: The subject of a Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) campaign to reduce the exploitative nature of its tobacco procurement system. FLOC's goal is to meet with Reynolds executives, growers, and workers in collective bargaining to improve farmworkers' pay and living conditions. Although there are many layers of subcontractors within the procurement system that seemingly absolve Reynolds of responsibility, FLOC asserts that its executives have

14148-500: The territory of the Wet'suwet'en Nation , which opposes the project. Enforcement of an injunction to build through the Wet'suwet'en territory has sparked widespread protests across Canada . In the final days of 2019, KKR announced it would acquire OverDrive, Inc. , a major distributor of eBooks to libraries. The potential for consolidation with KKR subsidiary RBMedia was quickly noted in

14279-599: The total profit of the fund (i.e., offsetting losses from failed deals against the profits from successful deals). KKR's activity level would accelerate over the second half of the 1990s making a series of notable investments including Spalding Holdings Corporation and Evenflo (1996), Newsquest (1996), KinderCare Learning Centers (1997), Amphenol Corporation (1997), Randalls Food Markets (1997), The Boyds Collection (1998), MedCath Corporation (1998), Willis Group Holdings (1998), Smiths Group (1999), and Wincor Nixdorf (1999). KKR's largest investment of

14410-583: Was "an important etiologic factor in the induction of primary cancer of the lung". He also wrote that many findings of animal studies "would seem to indicate the presence of carcinogens". In May 2011, a Miami-Dade Circuit jury awarded Julie Reese, an 82-year-old Cape Coral smoker represented by The Ferraro Law Firm , a total verdict of $ 1 million from R. J. Reynolds Tobacco, after she developed laryngeal cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease . The jury found Reynolds to be negligent, guilty of fraud by concealment and fraud conspiracy, and guilty of placing

14541-497: Was Building No. 12 across Second Street from the Building 256 complex, which Forsyth County bought when manufacturing ended there in 1990; finished in 1916, it was to be renovated for county offices after an announcement in 1999. Building 60 was built in 1923 and later renovated. Three buildings which were part of the "90 series" on Vine Street were later renovated; the one at 525 Vine was built in 1926, while Buildings 90-3 and 90-1A at 635 Vine, used for tobacco processing, were built in

14672-508: Was a promotional ticket stuck to the back of filtered varieties of Camel cigarettes. It was made to vaguely resemble currency and could be exchanged for items from the Camel Cash catalog. It could not be used, however, to purchase Camel tobacco products. The artwork changed many times over the years, and in the past included the face of Joe Camel, much in the same way as presidents are featured on American currency; later designs just used

14803-607: Was a sponsor of the 1986 FIFA World Cup . In late 2005, R. J. Reynolds opened the Marshall McGearty Lounge in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago as part of a marketing strategy to promote a brand of "superpremium" cigarettes and counteract local smoking bans in restaurants and cafes that took effect in 2006. The lounge, which offers thirteen varieties of exclusive "hand-crafted" cigarette, along with alcohol and "light food", has been "well received" in

14934-510: Was also once used to sell R. J. Reynolds's Winston cigarettes) and alleged that the Joe Camel advertisement campaign was targeting children, despite R. J. Reynolds's contention that the campaign had been researched only among adults and was directed only at the smokers of other brands. In response to this criticism, RJR instituted "Let's Clear the Air on Smoking", a campaign of full-page advertisements consisting entirely of large type text, which denied

15065-585: Was changing. Several large and storied firms, including Hicks Muse Tate & Furst and Forstmann Little & Company were dragged down by heavy losses in the bursting of the telecom bubble . Although KKR's track record since RJR Nabisco was mixed, losses on such investments as Regal Entertainment Group , Spalding , Flagstar and RentPath (previously K-III Communications) were offset by successes in Willis Group, Wise Foods, Inc. , Wincor Nixdorf and MTU Aero Engines , among others. Additionally, KKR

15196-694: Was claimed to be based on surveys by "three leading independent research organizations"; however, these surveys were conducted by R. J. Reynolds's advertising agency, the William Esty Company , and included free cigarettes for the doctors who were interviewed. In late 1987, RJR created " Joe Camel " as a brand mascot . In 1991, the American Medical Association published a report stating that 5- and 6-year-olds could more easily recognize Joe Camel than Mickey Mouse , Fred Flintstone , Bugs Bunny , or even Barbie . This led

15327-545: Was closed in 2006. Also, there are leaf operations in Wilson, North Carolina; tobacco-storage facilities in Blacksburg, South Carolina, and Richmond, Virginia; and a significant research-and-development facility in Winston-Salem. Camel (cigarette) Camel is an American brand of cigarettes , currently owned and manufactured by the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in the United States and by Japan Tobacco outside

15458-573: Was fined $ 20 million for breaking the 1998 Master Agreement, which restricted targeting youth in its tobacco advertisements. In 2001–2011, the European Union was involved in three civil suits against R. J. Reynolds in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York , accusing the company of selling black market cigarettes to drug traffickers and mobsters from Italy , Russia , Colombia and

15589-486: Was forbidden, the Camel name was replaced with the Camel logo instead. Camel was a sponsor of the Williams F1 team from 1991 to 1993 . The logos were shown on top of the car, on the top and side of the nose, right in front of the driver and on the driver's helmets. In races where tobacco sponsorship was forbidden, the Camel name was replaced with either the Camel logo or with "Williams" instead. Camel organised

15720-418: Was founded in 1976 by Jerome Kohlberg Jr. , and cousins Henry Kravis and George R. Roberts , all of whom had previously worked together at Bear Stearns , where they completed some of the earliest leveraged buyout transactions. Since its founding, KKR has completed a number of transactions, including the 1989 leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco , which was the largest buyout in history to that point, as well as

15851-480: Was made of concrete and did not burn but had smoke damage; it was used for training until 1990 and was being renovated in 1998. In 1916, the first of five buildings known as Plant 64 between Fourth and Fifth Streets was built. The 400,000-square-foot Plant 64 was the oldest remaining Reynolds plant when it was renovated at a cost of $ 55 million into 242 apartments, with the first residents moving in on July 1, 2014. The last building used for making cigarettes downtown

15982-644: Was not disclosed. On October 12, 2015, KKR announced that it had entered into definitive agreement with Allianz Capital Partners to acquire their majority stake in Selecta Group, a European vending services operator. In 2016, KKR purchased two Hispanic grocery chains, Northern California Mi Pueblo and Ontario, California –based Cardenas. In February 2016, KKR invested $ 75 million in commercial real estate lender A10 Capital. On September 1, 2016, KKR announced that it had acquired Epicor Software Corporation , an American software company. In October 2016, it

16113-555: Was one of the few firms that were able to complete large leveraged buyout transactions in the years immediately following the collapse of the Internet bubble, including Shoppers Drug Mart and Bell Canada Yellow Pages . KKR was able to realize its investment in Shoppers Drug Mart through a 2002 IPO and subsequent public stock offerings. The directories business would be taken public in 2004 as Yellow Pages Income Fund ,

16244-483: Was replaced with the Camel logo instead. Camel was a sponsor of the Benetton Formula 1 team in 1988 and 1989 and again from 1991 to 1993 . In the early years, Camel was a small sponsor and the logos were displayed on the side of the car and on the side of the drivers' helmets only, but from the 1991 season until the 1993 season, Camel became the main sponsor and the logos were prominently shown on

16375-614: Was reported that KKR invested $ 250 million in OVH to be used for further international expansion. This funding round valued OVH at over $ 1 billion, making it a unicorn . In December 2016, the Lonza Group announced it would acquire Capsugel for $ 5.5 billion from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. In February 2017, KKR was reported to be trying to take over the international market research company ARI GfK SE . In July 2017, KKR acquired WebMD Health Corp for $ 2.8 billion and,

16506-480: Was safe to smoke them. The slogan "More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette" became the mainstay of Camel advertising until 1952. Ads featuring the slogan were seen in a range of media, including medical journals such as the Journal of the American Medical Association , television commercials, popular radio programs such as Abbott and Costello and magazines such as Life and Time . The slogan

16637-486: Was selected as the test market because of its large black population. Before it began, the campaign came under fire from religious, health and black-interest groups who expressed concerns about promoting cigarette smoking to African-Americans. On January 19, 1990, Reynolds abruptly decided to cancel the cigarette, saying that the test marketing would no longer be reliable because of what it called, "the unfair and biased attention that brand has received". R. J. Reynolds built

16768-415: Was spun out of RJR Nabisco. The same year, the company sold all its non-U.S. operations to Japan Tobacco , which made those operations into its international arm, JT International. Consequently, any Camels , Winstons or Salems sold outside the United States are now actually Japanese cigarettes. In 2002, the company was fined $ 15 million for handing out free cigarettes at events attended by children, and

16899-660: Was taking a one-third stake in Spanish energy business Acciona Energy , at a cost of €417 million ($ 567 million). The international renewable energy generation business operates renewable assets, largely wind farms , across 14 countries including the United States , Italy and South Africa . In August 2014, KKR announced it was investing $ 400 million to acquire Fujian Sunner Development, China's largest chicken farmer, which breeds, processes and supplies frozen and fresh chickens to consumers and corporate clients, such as KFC and McDonald's, across China. In September 2014,

17030-443: Was the oldest Reynolds factory still standing and was sold to Forsyth County in 1990. At the beginning of the 1900s, Reynolds bought most of the competing tobacco factories in Winston-Salem. The company produced 25% of America's chewing tobacco . 1907's Prince Albert smoking tobacco became the company's national showcase product, which led to high-profile advertising in New York City 's Union Square . The Camel cigarette became

17161-552: Was then called the First Union Building for $ 2.5 million from Aon Consulting Inc. , which moved about 400 employees to the former headquarters building which was called University Corporate Center. In 2010, the building's tenants were Aon, BB&T, and PepsiCo . On November 1 of that year, Pepsi announced 195 new jobs and a $ 7.5 million expansion of University Corporate Center, with BB&T moving two of its operations to Reynolds Business Center. Aon and Pepsi remained

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