Alliance One International, Inc.

Morrisville, NC United States

  (NYSE: AOI)

Company Description

Alliance One International keeps one eye on the world's tobacco farmers and the other eye on the cigarette makers. The company is a leading global leaf-tobacco merchant, behind its slightly larger rival Universal Corporation. Alliance One buys leaf tobacco directly from growers in about 45 countries. In 2010 Alliance One purchased more than a third of its tobacco from South American farmers. It also processes flue-cured, burley, and oriental tobaccos and sells them to large multinational cigarette and cigar manufacturers, including Philip Morris International (PMI) and Japan Tobacco, in some 90 countries. Alliance One was formed through the 2005 merger of tobacco processor DIMON and Standard Commercial.