Universal Leaf history

In 1984 with sales at around $1.3 billion, Universal made a second and more serious attempt at diversification when it purchased two of the leading title insurance companies in the United States, Lawyers Title Insurance Company and Continental Land Title.

Universal Corporation, known until 1987 as Universal Leaf Tobacco Company Inc., operates as the world's largest buyer and processor of leaf tobacco in nearly 40 countries across the globe.

In 1988, the firm acquired Thorpe & Ricks in order to expand its United States operations and also purchase the German firm Gebrueder Kulenkampff AG, which increased its hold in the Brazilian and Turkish markets.

In September 1991, with no end in sight for the real estate downturn, Universal spun off its title insurance companies as an independent corporation called Lawyers Title Corporation, with Universal shareholders becoming the initial owners of Lawyers Title's stock.

In 1995, Holland-based Heuvelman, a softwood product processor and distributor, was purchased.

Two years later, it acquired a tobacco leaf plant from the Tanzanian government along with the Polish tobacco operations of Reemtsma Cigarettenfabriken GmbH. During 1997, net income reached $100.8 million.

In 1998, the company launched a significant stock repurchase program that would eventually reach $300 million in repurchased shares.