Big Bullets are on the verge of sealing a K500 million five-year business strategic partnership deal with Nyasa Manufacturing Company (NMC).
The cigarette manufacturing firm’s  managing director Demo Kalaitzis and Bullets’ chairperson Samuel Chilunga on Thursday confirmed the development, saying the agreement will see NCM pumping in K100 million or more, every year for the five-year duration.
NMC board chair Konrad Buckle said they are  hoping that this partnership will take the popular sport to new heights and encourage the youth’s  participation  and unlock football potential.
The deal is expected to commence on January 1 next year and Chilunga hinted that the name of the team will change to NMC Big Bullets.
Chilunga said the two parties already signed a pre-contract while the actual deal is expected to be sealed soon ahead of colourful launch earmarked for mid to end November.
“Relief was my prevalent emotion when we finally reached an agreement. We have been talking behind the scenes since May 25, barely a few days after my appointment as chairperson. I would like to appreciate the key role which FAM [Football Association of Malawi] president Walter Nyamilandu played in the exercise.
“Basically, this is more than sponsorship. It is a strategic business partnership in which we need to add value to their sales through our brand. The objective of this deal is to help finance our budget which is pegged at K100 million a season,” he said.
The Bullets boss said apart from the K100 million annual injection towards the club’s operations, the deal will also include branding of the team’s kit and using the players as ambassadors.
On his part Kalaitzis said being the only cigarette manufacturing company whose brands are produced using 100 percent Malawian tobacco leaf, they saw it wise to partner the biggest football club in the country.
“More details will be unveiled during the launch, but suffice to saw we want to use the Bullets brand to market our products and we believe it is a viable deal. We would also like to recognise the commitment shown by the FA president [Nyamilandu] in the whole process.
“Obviously we are very excited, our motivation is that we are partnering the biggest brand in football and we expect to reap the rewards. We believe with this deal the Malawian fans will support our proudly Malawian brand and contribute in the growth of both NMC and Big Bullets brands and proudly buying a local product.”
Some of NMC’s cigarette brands are Super King, Super Menthol, 2010 Menthol, 2010 Virginia and Nyasa Fodya.