Tabacalera SLU has obtained temporary licenses from the American and British authorities, giving it additional time to remove Chen Zhi from its shareholding.

Tabacalera SLU has obtained temporary licenses to market its products in the United States and the United Kingdom, according to the Spanish website El Confidencial. The Madrid-based company, a co-shareholder of Habanos S.A., has also emerged from the pre-insolvency proceedings it had initiated with the Spanish courts to protect itself against the potential impact of Chen Zhi’s arrest.

According to sources within Tabacalera’s communications department cited by El Confidencial, a temporary license was granted by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The license is valid until 2028 and covers all companies in the Allied Cigar group, including Tabacalera SLU. This means that these two manufacturers (Tabacalera de Garcia (TG) in the Dominican Republic and Flor de Copán in Honduras) are once again authorized to export their cigars to the United States.

According to our information, TG, the world’s largest cigar manufacturer located in the Dominican Republic, had been operating at 40-45% of its capacity since the end of 2025 and had to lay off approximately 600 rollers. Due to sanctions imposed by US authorities against Chen Zhi in October, Tabacalera USA, TG’s largest customer with the American versions of Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta, and H. Upmann, had suspended its purchases from this manufacturer and from the Flor de Copan factory in Honduras.

Furthermore, the UK’s Office for the Implementation of Financial Sanctions (OFSI) also granted a provisional license until 2031. Last February, L’Amateur revealed a significant decrease in deliveries of Havana cigars to British tobacconists and a complete halt to imports of VegaFina, a brand manufactured by TG in the Dominican Republic.

A buyout of Chen Zhi’s shares by an Abu Dhabi fund?

“Together, these two licenses establish a more stable path toward a return to normalcy, allowing us to resume exports to these markets,” explained the same sources at Tabacalera. “They also contribute to the gradual normalization of relations with the company’s various stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, and financial institutions, thereby strengthening the applicable compliance framework and facilitating the continuity of its commercial and financial operations.”

Tabacalera SLU has decided not to extend the receivership proceedings, deeming this additional preventative and protective measure no longer necessary. It is now working to sell the stake held by Cambodian magnate Chen Zhi, who owns 57.1% of the capital. According to El Confidencial, the most likely sale would be to the minority shareholder, an Abu Dhabi fund linked to the royal family of the United Arab Emirates. More specifically, Renovaire Group Holding RSC owns the remaining 42.9% through the companies Horizon Glory Global Limited and Digital Harvest Limited.

After three months on the run, Chen Zhi, accused of massive cyber fraud by US and British authorities, was arrested on January 7 in Cambodia and immediately extradited to China.