Arend van der Sluis Sr, who built his family’s cigar operation into the global tobacco machinery maker ITM Group before turning the business over to his son in 2007, has died. He was 72.

“His whole working life Arend has built and expanded our company with unbridled energy and drive, cheerful as always,” the ITM Board said in a statement. “Thanks to the trust he so readily gave to people ITM could grow to what it is today: a solid international company.”
A memorial service is planned for 10 March, 4 p.m., at ITM headquarters in Kampen, the Netherlands. Rememberances can be posted at a memorial site:
www.itmgroup.eu