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New industrial life is to be breathed into the disused halls of cigarette manufacturer BAT Switzerland.
Keystone
The cigarette manufacturer British American Tobacco BAT Switzerland has found a buyer for the entire site in Boncourt JU. The site was closed in 2023 and around 200 jobs were lost in the process.
British American Tobacco (BAT) Switzerland wanted to ensure that work could continue there "in the interests of the municipality of Ajoulote and the canton of Jura", the multinational company explained on Wednesday. The sale of the site is effective immediately.
As announced in June 2023, the warehouse and shipping department of BAT Switzerland will remain based in Boncourt. Around twenty people are employed there.
The buyer, who is not named in the press release, is Loxo Immo, whose shareholders include Zhi-Wei Guan, an Asian investor based in Moutier.
Zhi-Wei Guan confirmed the purchase to RFJ, a private radio station in French-speaking Switzerland. He wants to make the 70,000 square meter site with several buildings available for the establishment of new companies. According to Zhi-Wei Guan, the watch manufacturers Festina and Lotus are planning to move to Boncourt soon.
The closure of the site marked the end of an era for Boncourt and a considerable loss for the municipality's finances. The original cigarette manufacturer Burrus had come under the wing of Rothmans International in 1996, which merged with the BAT Group in 1999. The main brands produced in Switzerland were Parisienne and Lucky Strike.
17.09.2025, 09:50
