Pros
None- Only Cons from what I see.
Cons
It is funny how history repeats itself. IN the 1980s KKR bought out RJR Nabisco because it was apparent that management were living too large and not focused on running the business and keeping employees focused on executing the company’s goals. RJR has arrived at a similar situation as of 2022, BAT’s acquisition of RJR has meant that many (hundreds, potentially thousands) of roles are simply staffed by random BAT international assignees handpicked from the 140 other global markets. These people make up the entire C suite, and honestly most of the other senior corporate roles. They are paid MASSIVELY above what Americans receive; they get all expenses covered plus green cards. This is what keeps them quiet about how badly everything is going internally. Since nobody (the Americans) in the company can communicate up the hierarchy and to London just how bad things are going, the only place you can see honesty is on this Glassdoor page. It appears that BAT installs the high ranking International assignees with a primary purpose to serve as a "buffer" to prevent the Americans from controlling the organization. This leads to crippling short termism and a toxic culture to constantly acquiesce with whatever London wants even though the US market is very different. Massive amounts of jobs have been offshored since the acquisition. Entire groups just simply disappear from Outlook, you dig around and discover their jobs were transferred to Mexico, Philippines, Lithuania or Costa Rica. The building in Winston-Salem is half empty at minimum. The company is shell of its former self. The BAT CEO has visited the US operation (60% of BAT earnings) ONCE in the last two years. At minimum hundreds of millions of dollars in shareholder value are being destroyed annually by the international assignees grafty pay packages, failed business initiatives, faulty systems launches and constantly switching product/pricing strategies etc. The only thing protecting these people from their own mistakes is the FDA’s de facto ban on new cigarette brands. ANYWHERE Reynolds must compete against new entrants they either aren’t doing well (Nic Pouches) or have been unprofitable (Vapor). Think about how dumb you’d need to be to completely alienate the US territory management team(field sales force). Look at their Glassdoor comments here, they bore the brunt of the acquisition. BAT targeted their headcount and pay/benefits because they never bothered to realize that most cigarettes in the US are sold at random little gas stations, you NEED a motivated well paid field sales force to cover the massive geographic area of the US. Employee turnover in every area I am even remotely close to is MASSIVE. Any activist investor out there would do well by buying up shares of BAT, getting on the board and really opening up Reynold’s books and looking at management practices and qualifications. As it currently stands the US operation is just a slush fund for international assignees and cliques of Trumpy good ol boys. If you are American and receive an offer from this company in ANY area stay far away. You have been warned.
