Davidoff Appoints New President for North America

Media Release

Davidoff Appoints New President for North America

Basel/Switzerland, July 14th 2011. The President and Chief Executive Officer of the Oettinger Davidoff Group, Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard, announced today the appointment of James (Jim) Young, as the new President North America of Davidoff of Geneva Distribution, Inc. effective September 1st.

After 11 years at the helm of Davidoff’s US Operations, Peter Baenninger, will relocate to corporate headquarters in Basel, Switzerland, to take up a new role as Head of Global Retail effective January 1st 2012.

Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard says: “I am delighted to welcome Jim to Davidoff at this exciting time for our company. The US is of critical importance to our strategic growth plans and Jim is uniquely suited to lead our businesses in the future. With his broad, cross functional, US and international experience, I am convinced he will only add to his track record of success. Our strong portfolio of Davidoff, AVO, Camacho, Cusano, Griffin’s, Zino Platinum and Winston Churchill is a compelling platform for Jim and the team to take our US business to the next level”.

Mr Hoejsgaard continues: “It is Peter’s success in building our retail stores in the US that makes him ideally positioned and particularly qualified to take on this new and important global retail role”.

Jim Young was most recently President Guinness USA and prior to that he was with Diageo in London. From 1985-2001 he was with Joseph E. Seagram & Sons in a range of senior Finance and General Management positions in the US, Asia and Europe, lastly as General Manager Seagram Spain & Portugal. Jim holds an MBA in Finance & Accounting from Columbia University and a BS with highest honors in Marine Transportation from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.

The CHF 1.3 billion Oettinger Davidoff Group with almost 4,000 employees around the world, traces its roots back to 1875 and remains family owned to this day with two distinctly different businesses: one that is focused on FMCG distribution in the Swiss market and one dedicated to the core business of producing, marketing and retailing premium branded cigars, tobacco products and accessories. The premium branded cigar business include Davidoff, AVO, Camacho, Cusano, Griffin’s, Private Stock, Zino, Zino Platinum and Winston Churchill Cigars. The Oettinger Davidoff Group is anchored in a strong “cropto-shop” philosophy, having pursued a vertical integration from its tobacco fields in the Dominican Republic and Honduras to its world wide network of 65 flagship stores.