Vector Group
Encyclopedia
Vector Group Ltd. is a Miami, Florida
-based, publicly traded holding company founded by its Chairman, Bennett S. LeBow
. Howard Lorber
serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Vector Group Ltd.. The company is headquartered in the Miami Tower in Downtown Miami
.
The company's holdings include:
Investments and real estate holdings include:
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
-based, publicly traded holding company founded by its Chairman, Bennett S. LeBow
Bennett S. LeBow
Bennett S. LeBow is a financier and corporate raider. He is also the former Chairman of the Board and CEO of Borders Group, an international bookseller based in Ann Arbor, Michigan and Chairman of the Board of Vector Group, a holding company primarily involved in the manufacturing of cigarette...
. Howard Lorber
Howard Lorber
Howard Mark Lorber is the President and CEO of Vector Group Ltd., a holding company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. He is also the Chairman of Douglas Elliman, a subsidiary of Vector Group, which is the largest residential real estate brokerage in the New York metropolitan area. He is also...
serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Vector Group Ltd.. The company is headquartered in the Miami Tower in Downtown Miami
Downtown Miami
Downtown Miami is an urban residential neighborhood, and the central business district of Miami, Miami-Dade County, and South Florida in the United States...
.
The company's holdings include:
- Liggett GroupLiggett GroupLiggett Group , formerly known as Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company, is the fourth largest tobacco company in the United States. Its headquarters are located in Durham, North Carolina, though its manufacturing facility is 30 miles to the west in Mebane, North Carolina...
a tobacco company founded in 1873. Liggett is the maker of Eve 120s branded discount products, and PyramidPyramidA pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a single point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three triangular surfaces...
, Grand Prix, Liggett Select products in the deep discount category. The company also produces a number of private-label and distributor-exclusive brands for a total of more than 136 brand styles.
- Vector Tobacco Inc., based in North Carolina, is engaged in research relating to reduced risk cigarette products and in the manufacture of conventional cigarettes.
- Liggett Vector Brands LLC, A company that coordinates the sales and marketing, along with certain support functions, for both Liggett Group and Vector Tobacco.
- New Valley LLCNew Valley LLCNew Valley LLC is an investment company owned by Vector Group. Western Union was renamed New Valley in the early 1990s as the corporate parent of all Western Union related businesses. In 1994, New Valley sold its Western Union businesses to First Financial Management for $1.2 Billion...
. (Formerly known as Western UnionWestern UnionThe Western Union Company is a financial services and communications company based in the United States. Its North American headquarters is in Englewood, Colorado. Up until 2006, Western Union was the best-known U.S...
), New Valley is seeking to acquire additional operating companies and real estate companies. New Valley owns 50% of Douglas Elliman RealtyDouglas EllimanDouglas Elliman is the largest residential real estate brokerage in the New York metropolitan area.-Overview:Douglas Elliman operates in New York City, Long Island, the Hamptons, and Westchester as Prudential Douglas Elliman and Miami as Douglas Elliman Florida. The company's Miami flagship office...
, which operates the largest residential brokerage company in the New York metropolitan area. Douglas Elliman RealtyDouglas EllimanDouglas Elliman is the largest residential real estate brokerage in the New York metropolitan area.-Overview:Douglas Elliman operates in New York City, Long Island, the Hamptons, and Westchester as Prudential Douglas Elliman and Miami as Douglas Elliman Florida. The company's Miami flagship office...
has more than 60 offices and approximately 3,700 agents.
Investments and real estate holdings include:
- Ladenburg ThalmannLadenburg ThalmannLadenburg Thalmann Financial Services, a NYSE Amex-listed company , is a diversified financial services company with two primary business lines: independent brokerage and advisory, and investment banking and capital markets...
(7.6%), an investment bank and stock brokerage founded in 1876.
- Castle BrandsCastle BrandsCastle Brands is an international importer and marketer of spirits. Brands include Clontarf Whiskey, Boru Vodka, and Gosling's Rum....
(11%), an emerging international importer and marketer of premium spirits. Brands include Clontarf WhiskeyClontarf (whiskey)Clontarf is a triple distilled Irish whiskey produced by the Clontarf Whiskey Company, a subsidiary of Castle Brands Inc. The whiskey takes it name from the Battle of Clontarf in 1014...
, Boru Vodka, and Gosling's Rum.
- Morgans Hotel GroupMorgans Hotel GroupMorgans Hotel Group is a hospitality company that owns & operates boutique hotels as well as acquiring and redeveloping in the United States and Europe....
(5.6%), a hospitality company that owns & operates boutique hotels as well as acquiring and redeveloping in the United States and Europe. Hotels currently owned or managed include the Mondrian HotelMondrian HotelThe Mondrian Hotel is the name of three boutique hotels owned and/or operated by the Morgans Hotel Group.-Mondrian Los Angeles:The original Mondrian Hotel is located on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, California. The structure was built in 1959 as an apartment building. It was later renovated...
, Delano HotelDelano HotelThe Delano Hotel is an upscale resort located at 1685 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, Florida. The resort features 194 guest rooms, suites and lofts, and is located directly on the beach. Delano is now a part of the Morgans Hotel Group collection. The Delano is known for its whimsical, art-deco...
, and Shore Club Hotel.
- CoCrystal Discovery, a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel antiviral therapeutics for the treatment of serious and chronic viral diseases.
- Cardo Medical, an orthopedic medical device company, designs, develops, and markets reconstructive joint devices and spinal surgical devices in the United States.
- OPKO Health, a specialty healthcare company, engaged in the discovery, development, and commercialization of proprietary pharmaceuticals, drug delivery technologies, diagnostic systems, and instruments for the treatment, diagnosis, and management of ophthalmic disorders.
- Sesto Holdings S.r.l.. New Valley, through its NV Milan LLC subsidiary, acquired a 7.2% interest in Sesto Holdings S.r.l. for $5 million in October 2010. Sesto holds a 42% interest in an entity that has purchased approximately 322 acres in Milan, Italy. Sesto intends to develop the land as a multi-parcel, multi-building mixed use urban regeneration project.
- 100 Eleventh Avenue. A subsidiary of New Valley LLC owns 40% of New Valley Oaktree Chelsea Eleven LLC, which lent $29 million and contributed $1 million in capital to Chelsea Eleven LLC, which is developing a condominium project in Manhattan, New York. (www.nouvelchelsea.com) The development, which features a 23-story tower at the intersection of 19th Street and West Highway, along the Hudson River in Manhattan, has been designed by renowned French architect Jean Nouvel and consists of 54 luxury residential units and one commercial unit. The development received a temporary certificate of occupancy in October 2009.
- Fifty Third-Five Building. In 2010, New Valley, through its NV 955 LLC subsidiary, contributed $18 million to a joint venture, Fifty Third-Five Building LLC (“JV”), of which it owns 50%. In 2010, the JV acquired a defaulted real estate loan, collateralized by real estate located in New York City for approximately $35.5 million. The previous lender had commenced proceedings seeking to foreclose its mortgage. Upon acquisition of the loan, the JV succeeded to the rights of the previous lender in the litigation. On April 27, 2011, the court granted the JV's motion for summary judgment, dismissing certain substantive defenses raised by the borrower and the other named parties. The borrower has challenged the validity of the assignment from the previous lender to the JV and the litigation is ongoing.
- EscenaEscenaEscena is an American Thoroughbred filly racehorse. Bred and raced by Allen Paulson, she was out of the mare Claxton's Slew, a daughter of 1977 U.S. Triple Crown champion, Seattle Slew. Her sire was the great international runner Strawberry Road who was the 1983 Australian Champion Racehorse of...
. In March 2008, a subsidiary of New Valley purchased a loan collateralized by a substantial portion of a 450-acre approved master planned community in Palm Springs, California known as “Escena.” The loan, which was in foreclosure, was purchased for its $20 million face value plus accrued interest and other costs of approximately $1.5 million. The collateral consisted of 867 residential lots with site and public infrastructure, an 18-hole golf course, a substantially completed clubhouse, and a seven-acre site approved for a 450-room hotel. In April 2009, New Valley’s subsidiary entered into a settlement agreement with a guarantor of the loan, which required the guarantor to satisfy its obligations under a completion guaranty by completing improvements to the project in settlement, among other things, of its payment guarantees. On April 15, 2009, New Valley completed the foreclosure process and on April 16, 2009, took title to the collateral.