I wish this were 1 April but its not...
http://drewestate.com/press-release-swisher-international-announces-purchase-agreement-acquire-drew-estate/
I had a guy tell me he can get me the sweets at little cost because he knows a rep for them. Now if it's a box of the acquired brand I may have to do that.
Liga Privada Sweets, coming soon to a drugstore near you.
:shootme:
Can't wait for the wood-tipped LP#9's. MMmmm . . . .
Almost saw this coming when DE started being involved in the distribution, and later production, of Swisher's re-entry into the premium space.
That can't be good news... here comes The Feral Flying White Owl
Someone's pockets just got deep. Hate to see what happens to the DE lines
QuoteDonM - 10/20/2014 3:19 PM
Someone's pockets just got deep. Hate to see what happens to the DE lines
I've heard it was $140 million
Interesting.
So which one of you guys is going to be the first one to get a "Swisher " tattoo??
QuoteBrlesq - 10/20/2014 3:35 PM
So which one of you guys is going to be the first one to get a "Swisher " tattoo??
Ah.......NEVER!
I remember having this conversation on a Google herf. Crazy
QuoteBrlesq - 10/20/2014 3:35 PM
So which one of you guys is going to be the first one to get a "Swisher " tattoo??
I've had mine for years Bruce.....
(https://coffeescholar.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/h628eea07.jpg)
QuoteStogieDad - 10/20/2014 3:38 PM
I've had mine for years Bruce....
:lmao: :lmao: :lmao:
get paid! why not? they ground it out so it's time to enjoy the next thing in style!
seems like a good fit. you see their cigars in gas stations next to the blunt rollers. the few decent ones they sell have become way overpriced and a bitch to get anyway.
QuoteBrlesq - 10/20/2014 3:22 PM
QuoteDonM - 10/20/2014 3:19 PM
Someone's pockets just got deep. Hate to see what happens to the DE lines
I've heard it was $140 million
Thats pretty much the mark I heard. I think someone told me it was arounded $135 million
I had heard the other week that the higher ups from Swisher were down there talking to companies, but didn't think it would result in this. Although if it was around the $140 million mark it would be very hard to turn down the offer.
Can't wait till Longhorn get his first Liga Pineapple #9 to review :blech:
money, money, money... :crazy:
Thats just sad. :-(
What a bummer.
Hopefully nothing changes.
I think it had more to do with the federal regulation issues that may be coming than anything else. While we all love the LP's and Herrera Estelli's, the fact of the matter is that the top grossing products for Drew Estate are the Acids and they are certain to be directly in the cross hairs of the feds. Kind of makes sense for them to get under the umbrella of a larger company that will dealing heavily with those same issues.
I'm sure we all hope and pray that they won't be dumb enough to tinker with the LP's and Herrera Estelli's but I guess that only time will tell.
Can't say that in surprised, at the end of the day it's a business... Cha-Ching for Drew he earned it!
interesting if know if they kept Jonathan also. If not I would bet the buy out has a no compete
Kind of sad to see. I'm sure in the near term you won't see much change, but over time they will be assimilated and "cost efficiencies" will kick in that will stifle the creativity and freedom that drove its success. I hope i'm wrong. :-(
-Paul
Very sad
Never been much of a fan of DE anyway other than the Nica Rustica. But that's just MO. Should be interesting to see what happens though.
Somewhat apropos of this, have you seen that the Villiger Colorado Corona got a 91 in the latest CA... I know it's their most expensive premium cigar, but still. Maybe there's hope?
There's no doubt the Acid is the volume seller, but if DE is making a good margin on the LP and related lines, Swisher should continue them unchanged for a while. But it likely doesn't bode well for long term consistency or development of new related lines. Swisher surely has a different corporate culture, a different mentality, when it comes to development of new lines, etc.
That said, I certainly don't fault Jonathan for selling out. It is business, after all.
QuoteSparklePony - 10/20/2014 7:13 PM Somewhat apropos of this, have you seen that the Villiger Colorado Corona got a 91 in the latest CA... I know it's their most expensive premium cigar, but still. Maybe there's hope?
I'll tell you John, I have yet to find a Villiger worth the asking price. Not saying they are bad, just better available at the price point IMHO
:-( and another "boutique" brand sells off to a large Corp. Hope this isn't turning into something we are going to keep seeing with other boutiques. So far Torano, Leccia, and now this. :-(
:?: I wonder what the auction sites are going to look like now? All DE cigars are going to go for crazy high bids.
QuoteCamshaft83 - 10/20/2014 8:11 PM
:-( and another "boutique" brand sells off to a large Corp. Hope this isn't turning into something we are going to keep seeing with other boutiques. So far Torano, Leccia, and now this. :-(
This will be a trend, if I had to bet. As someone who smokes boutiques almost exclusively, this isn't something I want to see happen.
As SenorPablo stated, I doubt the short-term outlook will change much, but eventually, that big company mentality and culture will most likely creep in. We'll see what happens. I've moved away from smoking a lot of DE products, but I know we have a lot of fans on the site.
I wonder how many LP#9 will be left after Longhorn stocks up after getting this news..... :biggrin:
QuoteMautrak - 10/20/2014 7:55 PM
...but if DE is making a good margin on the LP and related lines, Swisher should continue them unchanged for a while.
From what I've been told, the LP has very little margin.
I'm personally looking forward to being able to pick up a 2pk of T52's at most gas stations.
Quotemike.casey - 10/20/2014 8:49 PM
I'm personally looking forward to being able to pick up a 2pk of T52's at most gas stations.
:lmao:
If we are lucky, they'll bust open a pack and sell singles....
Wow! I'm a pretty big DE fan & this can't be good :(
QuoteSenorPablo - 10/20/2014 6:58 PM
Kind of sad to see. I'm sure in the near term you won't see much change, but over time they will be assimilated and "cost efficiencies" will kick in that will stifle the creativity and freedom that drove its success. I hope i'm wrong. :-(
-Paul
Couldn't have said it better.
Eventually everything comes down to bottom dollar in large corporations, and the LP line is a lot of work for much less in return I'm guessing. Swisher might stay hands off for a bit, since DE will be a subsidiary, but eventually management changes there...
We have at least a year of stocking up though, right? :biggrin:
Quotenwb - 10/20/2014 6:50 PM Quotemike.casey - 10/20/2014 8:49 PM I'm personally looking forward to being able to pick up a 2pk of T52's at most gas stations.
:lmao: If we are lucky, they'll bust open a pack and sell singles....
I'm sure they'll sell singles, but probably only in cherry flavor.
Quotemike.casey - 10/20/2014 8:49 PM
I'm personally looking forward to being able to pick up a 2pk of T52's at most gas stations.
:lmao: X 2
Have been a fan of the LP9's ever since they hit the shelves and I plan to keep buying until they stop making them or change them into something I don't like. Frankly, I'm not surprised as rumors are that DE may have more than a few financial challenges...
Can't wait to try the grape flavored flying pig with the wooden tip.
QuoteLonghorn - 10/20/2014 9:45 PM
Frankly, I'm not surprised as rumors are that DE may have more than a few financial challenges...
Apparently not anymore....
OH BOY!!!!
LIGA PRIVADA #9 "SWEETS"
QuoteKman - 10/20/2014 5:39 PM
I think it had more to do with the federal regulation issues that may be coming than anything else. While we all love the LP's and Herrera Estelli's, the fact of the matter is that the top grossing products for Drew Estate are the Acids and they are certain to be directly in the cross hairs of the feds. Kind of makes sense for them to get under the umbrella of a larger company that will dealing heavily with those same issues.
I think that this is an insightful point. And then there's the money: DE has been very successful of late and can get top dollar.
QuoteKman - 10/20/2014 5:39 PM
I think it had more to do with the federal regulation issues that may be coming than anything else. While we all love the LP's and Herrera Estelli's, the fact of the matter is that the top grossing products for Drew Estate are the Acids and they are certain to be directly in the cross hairs of the feds. Kind of makes sense for them to get under the umbrella of a larger company that will dealing heavily with those same issues.
A large facet of this purchase I am sure. Nice Kerry.
There is a part of me that believes this is not just strictly a sell-out. Maybe Swisher was willing to structure the deal in a manner leaving some flexibility in that side of the business. I know we assume the worst, that upon receipt Swisher starts pumping their corporate agenda upon DE and all goes to hell. May be the case, but hopefully that is why Swisher was able to make the deal instead of, say, General. Hopefully the structure still allows a level of freedom for the brand.
But to Kerry's point, with the pending problems they may be having with the "flavored" cigar market, I imagine Swisher's lawyers were quite enticing as well.
Steve Saka's comments (I grabbed this from another sight, so if somebody here is on FB with Saka, maybe you can confirm if its accurate)
Steve Saka (from his Facebook post)
Dunbarton Center, NH
I have been getting slammed today with phone calls, texts, emails regarding Swisher's acquisition of DE. I have decided for good or bad I am going to share my thoughts.
Like every other jag off with a keyboard I have a myriad of opinions regarding the news, unlike most I probably have greater insight given my experience in our industry and that I served with DE as their President and the CEO for eight years. That being said. I will willfully admit I do not know all the facts so what you are about to read is just my opinion.
- Congrats to my good friends at DE. They have struggled and worked their collective asses off for nearly two decades. It truly is amazing what they have accomplished, a true American success story.
- DE always has suffered under the burden of their rapid growth and expansion. It takes a tremendous amount of cash to operate a handmade cigar factory given that you are forced to buy materials three to five years before you even have the opportunity to try to create a sellable product. So even when you are doing fantastic posting those increases in sales, you are faced with a tremendous cash crunch given the investment needed to maintain the growth curve. IMO it was only a matter of time when either they would had to slow way down or take on an equity partner. Knowing them, "slow" is not in their vocabulary, so some sort of deal with someone was inevitable.
- Adding to the mix the uncertainty of FDA it makes doing a deal with someone with more experience and capacity to deal with this uncertain future wise.
- Given the size of DE, there are very few companies in our industry with the financial wherewithal to be such a partner.
- Swisher is a very well run, privately held company full of good people. Not your typical corporate wonks, so knowing the landscape I think they are the ideal partner given the field of possible suitors.
- I do believe that JD, Marv, Mike and the whole crew love DE. And I think they did a deal that gives them the ability to operate as a stand alone division and intact for the foreseeable future. What more could you ask for? No one is getting laid off, no consolidation of the factory or the US team as part of the deal. My understanding is that -all- of the existing management and key positions are under an agreement to stay. Seldom is a deal made where your people are given a fair opportunity to continue performing and for this the partners at DE deserve praise.
- In any deal like this, all the parties involved are required by non-dislosure agreements to remain silent. Do I think JD could have handled his denial comments better? Yes, but that is in hindsight, plus part of what makes him JD is the fact that he is knock-around, regular guy, not some sophisticated business MBA type. And to be honest, much of the fallout I have been reading today is resulting from what other's said about the situation more so than what he actually said himself. I know this can be argued endlessly and probably will be for a few more days.
- So what happens to the products? I honestly don't know, I do know however that the purchase does not automatically mean a change in brands or decrease in the quality. It could mean just the opposite. I do believe that DE will do their best to maintain and improve the products.
- Look do I believe "nothing" will change? No... things always change. They would have changed regardless of who they did a deal with and even if they hadn't done a deal. Change would have been inevitable regardless, what I don't know is whether this change will be for the better or the worse, time will only tell.
- And finally, I have read in a few places online speculation that my departing may have had something to do with this "pending" deal. This is untrue as we were not engaged in any such discussions with Swisher during my tenure.
There I have said my two cents... this has to be the world's longest FB status update... And I did the whole thing in my Scooby Doo underwear!
QuoteCfickter - 10/20/2014 7:56 PM QuoteSparklePony - 10/20/2014 7:13 PM Somewhat apropos of this, have you seen that the Villiger Colorado Corona got a 91 in the latest CA... I know it's their most expensive premium cigar, but still. Maybe there's hope?
I'll tell you John, I have yet to find a Villiger worth the asking price. Not saying they are bad, just better available at the price point IMHO
Ironically, I picked up a cigar at a B & M recently that I hadn't seen before, but it looked great and was packaged beautifully. It was a "Cabarete Maduro". Had to google it to discover that it is in fact a new brand by "Villager". Smoked it this weekend, and it was a 4+ star cigar for me. Very Padron like if you can believe that. As John said, "maybe there is hope". I'm not going to get all gloomy doomy over this. It sounds like they may be able to maintain their creativity, while benefitting from the financial stability of Swisher. Let's all hope this is the case.
EDIT: Price point was just under $7. I thought it was a bargain
Statements from the DE guys....
http://halfwheel.com/jonathan-drew-marvin-samel-willy-herrera-michael-cellucci-drew-estates-sale-swisher/72318
Just glad it wasn't sold to China or Russia!.
Well everyone is at least saying the right things, but only time will tell what happens next.
QuoteSenorPablo - 10/20/2014 6:58 PM
Kind of sad to see. I'm sure in the near term you won't see much change, but over time they will be assimilated and "cost efficiencies" will kick in that will stifle the creativity and freedom that drove its success. I hope i'm wrong. :-(
-Paul
I have never been a huge fan of CAO, but that is what we saw after they were acquired by General Cigar. I think the best commentary so far has come from Steve Saka. At this point I think it was probably a good option for JD and crew and I hope the best for them, they worked hard and hard work pays off.
Maybe I am in the minority here, but this sounded like a great pairing when I heard it. Both companies have a lot to offer each other. I have worked for a small company who was purchased by a multi-billion dollar conglomerate. There were small changes, but overall they let us run things more or less as we had, because that is what made us successful.
DE has a lot of products that could use gas station distribution. Swisher is trying to expand into the premium market.
DE has very sucessful lines that need to fight off government intervention much more than other brand names, and Swisher has deep pockets.
I don't have a crystal ball that tells me if this will be a success. However,it sure looks like a good move to me for all parties involved.