American Tobacco Company

The American Tobacco Company was founded by Buck Duke circa 1888, who took over the tobacco manufacturing operation from his father, Washington Duke. ATC was dissolved in May 1911 by an anti-trust order of the Supreme Court, and was succeeded by four large firms: Liggett & Myers, R.J. Reynolds, Lorillard Tobacco Company, and ATC. The ATC is a Delaware corporation, whose principal place of business is located at 6 Stamford Forum, Stamford, CT 06904. Registered agent is U.S. Corporation Company, 32 Lockerman Square, Suite L-100, Dover, DE, 19901. . The ATC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Brands, Inc.(ABI)  The ATC was sold by ABI to British American Tobacco Ind. for $1 billion, announced April 26, 1994. In 1994 ATC had about 7% of the American cigarette market. The agreement between ABI and British American Tobacco Ind., PLC for the sale of the ATC contained a "material adverse change clause," which meant that if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulated cigarettes and if there were any material change of the distribution and sale of cigarettes, British American Tobacco had latitude to reexamine the deal. The ATC became American Brands, Inc. in 1969.

Closure
The ATC closed its last plant, in Durham, North Carolina, in 1987, and transferred its operations to Reidsville, North Carolina, 61 miles away. As of May, 1994, the ATC had six subsidiaries: ACC; ATC (a Nevada corporation), ATC of the Orient, Inc.; ATC Foreign Sales Corp.; Golden Belt Manufacturing Co.; and Golden Belt Manufacturing (Canada), Ltd. Each of the companies is wholly-owned by ATC, directly or through one of the other companies listed.

The ATC was represented in the Peter Castano case by Sessions & Fishman, New Orleans, La. and Chadbourne & Park, New York, NY. The ATC is the manufacturer, advertiser, and seller of the brands American; Barkeley; Bull Durham; Carlton (US); Iceberg; Lucky Strike, (US, from 1916 to present); Malibu; Misty; Montclair (US); Newport; Pall Mall (US, from 1907 to present); Prime (1993); Private Stock (1993); Riviera (? to present); Silk Cut; Silva Thins; Sobrania; Summit (1993); and Tareyton (US) cigarettes in the U.S.