Parent organization Emeritus Senior Living | ||
 | ||
BATUS Inc. is a United States former subsidiary of British American Tobacco, now the world's second largest cigarette manufacturer. Beginning in the late 1960s, British American Tobacco followed the then-fashionable theory of diversification, including significant investments in the apparently booming world of retail.
Through its BATUS unit (somewhat redundantly, the acronym referred to "British American Tobacco – US"), the company diversified its tobacco holdings with acquisitions in the retail sector, Paper sector (through the acquisition of Appleton Paper Company, a leader in carbonless technology), and Insurance (through the acquisition of Farmers Insurance Group). BATUS was created by British American Tobacco to oversee the US holdings. Management for BATUS was initially derived from Brown and Williamson Tobacco with B&W's CEO and Chairman of the Board, Joseph E. Edens initially leading BATUS, followed by Charlie McCarty and Hank Frigon, the first non B&W or BAT executive to lead the company.
Throughout the early 70s to mid 80s, Brown and Williamson and then BATUS acquired Saks Fifth Avenue, Frederick and Nelson, Marshall Fields, Ivey's, Bruener's Furniture and Home Furnishings, Kohl Food and Department Stores, Gimbel Brothers. The retail operations proved complex and were not competing well in their markets. Several early acquisitions, like Gimbels, acquired with Saks Fifth Avenue, were sold for poor performance, while others, like Kohl, were spun off to their management group. To manage the large retail holdings, BAT and BATUS created BATUS Retail Group in the early to mid 80s (BRG) (who went on to expand the current store presence of existing businesses and developed a ready-to-wear specialty business Thimbles.
In 1989, BAT became a target of a hostile takeover by Sir James Goldsmith. Ultimately. In an effort to fend off the takeover, BAT divested much of its US operations to raise capital and focus the business. BRG and BATUS was shut down and some remaining administrative operations were consolidated back to Brown and Williamson Tobacco.
While the company was not responsible to produce an annual report since they were a subsidiary of British American Tobacco based in London, they did produce the report to assist with financing and investments in the States. One of BATUS' primary responsibilities was the management of funding and cash from US operations.