THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 1, 1995 TAG: 9504010362
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Daily Digest
LENGTH: Short : 26 lines
Shareholders of Dibrell Brothers Inc. and Monk-Austin Inc. approved a merger Friday that will make the new company, DIMON Inc., the nation's second-largest tobacco leaf merchant. Dibrell, based in Danville, Va., reported net sales of $919 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30. It has 4,000 employees. Monk-Austin, based in Farmville, N.C., had net sales of $528 million in the same period and has about 2,200 employees. The industry is faced with declining domestic cigarette consumption, and Monk-Austin President Albert C. Monk III said that the merger will make it easier for the company to sell tobacco on the growing international market. DIMON wants to grab a share of tobacco markets in Eastern Europe, where smokers already are consuming 700 billion cigarettes a year. That's the second largest consumption behind China. (AP) by CNB