Geneva, 24 February 2009 – Japan Tobacco International (JTI) is actively looking for a new Geneva location for its international headquarters and confirms its interest for an appropriate location within the Sécheron perimeter in this city. The company, which has been operating out of Geneva for over three decades, recently relocated at 1, rue de la Gabelle in Carouge.
JTI was formed in 1999 when Japan Tobacco Inc. purchased the international tobacco operations of the US multinational R.J. Reynolds. Since that time, JTI has consistently maintained its status as the fastest organically growing company of the industry. In 2007, Gallaher Plc, a FTSE 100 business, was acquired by Japan Tobacco for GBP 9.4 billion – the largest foreign acquisition to this day by a Japanese company.
These growth factors compel JTI to reconsider its needs for office space. With presently more than 600 employees working in four different locations, and projecting over 1,000 within the next 5 years, the company now needs approximately 25,000 square meters of office space to regroup all its employees under one roof in order to manage its international operations adequately. JTI’s commitment to the Geneva region goes back many years and its search is presently limited to that canton.