Altria has announced plans to acquire e-cigarette and vaping giant NJOY for $2.75 billion in cash just days after selling its stake in Juul Labs, another vaping company that is currently mired in legal challenges.
“We believe we can responsibly accelerate U.S. adult smoker and competitive adult vaper adoption of NJOY ACE in ways that NJOY could not as a standalone company,” said CEO Billy Gifford in a press release. “We believe the strengths of our commercial resources can benefit adult tobacco consumers and expand competition."
While Juul offers a similar set of so-called smoke-free products, it faces a number of legal challenges that Gifford noted could persist for the foreseeable future.
“Juul faces significant regulatory and legal challenges and uncertainties, many of which could exist for many years,” he said.
Some legal challenges remain, however. The deal stipulates that $500 million in cash payments are contingent upon some NJOY products getting regulatory approval.
The owner of Marlboro cigarettes continues to pitch its interest in vaping and e-cigarettes as a way to get smokers to transition to vaping alternatives.
“We are excited to add NJOY’s e-vapor intellectual property as a new platform that we believe we can build on to help more adult smokers transition to smoke-free alternatives,” said Olivier Houpert, chief innovation and product officer for Altria.
Johann Kerbrat, VP and General Manager at Robinhood joins Cheddar to discuss Bitcoin's recent rise and how the company got into election betting. Watch!
Guy Diedrich, SVP and Global Innovation Officer at Cisco joined Cheddar to discuss how our digital diets impact our well being & an upcoming study to prove it!
With the election behind us, many are wondering what the next four years look like for the US economy. Drew Pettit, from Citi Group joins Cheddar to discuss.
Jeff Ostrowski, Mortgage & Housing Analyst at Bankrate, discusses mortgage rates in America and how the housing market will change under a second Trump term.
The NAACP has entered the VC space with a new fund that will invest in startups and fund managers that are focused on closing gaps facing communities of color.
Can a layoff lead to your next big thing? Issie Lapowsky, contributor for Inc. Magazine and Alphonzo Terrell, co-founder and CEO of Spill join us to discuss.
Meet Scorpion, the latest, Nvidia-powered service robot from Richtech Robotics which crafts personalized cocktails and wine selections based on your mood