{"id":2360,"date":"2014-07-12T19:14:24","date_gmt":"2014-07-12T19:14:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=2360"},"modified":"2014-07-12T19:14:24","modified_gmt":"2014-07-12T19:14:24","slug":"slumping-cigarette-sales-prompts-r-j-reynolds-lorillard-to-talk-merger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=2360","title":{"rendered":"Slumping cigarette sales prompts R.J. Reynolds-Lorillard to talk merger"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/reynolds.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"2361\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?attachment_id=2361\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/reynolds.jpg?fit=616%2C164&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"616,164\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"reynolds\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/reynolds.jpg?fit=474%2C126&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-2361\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/reynolds.jpg?resize=300%2C79&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"reynolds\" width=\"300\" height=\"79\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/reynolds.jpg?resize=300%2C79&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/reynolds.jpg?w=616&amp;ssl=1 616w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A very interesting<a href=\"http:\/\/dealbook.nytimes.com\/2014\/07\/11\/imperial-tobacco-in-talks-to-acquire-brands-from-reynolds-and-lorillard\/?hp&amp;action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;module=photo-spot-region&amp;region=photo-spot&amp;WT.nav=photo-spot\"> story about major changes in the works<\/a> in the tobacco industry.<\/p>\n<p>The No. 2 tobacco company in America &#8212; R.J. Reynolds &#8212; is in talks to buy the No. 3 tobacco company in America &#8212; Lorillard (which I have misspelled Lollilard more times than I can count.). Imperial\u00a0Tobacco is also involved in the deal.<\/p>\n<p>This deal would create a $56 billion company and would create a monster rival to the dominant No. 1 tobacco company in America &#8212; Altria, otherwise known as Philip Morris (its dominant brand is Marlboro, of course).<\/p>\n<p>Reynolds and Lorillard would combine for 42 percent of the cigarette market, joining Reynolds&#8217; big product &#8212; Camel &#8212; what Lorillard&#8217;s &#8212; Newport. Other Lorillard brands are Kent and Old Gold, while other Reynolds&#8217; other brands are Pall Mall, Winston, Salem and Kool. But, Camel and Newport are the dominant brands.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/dbpix-camel-tmagArticle.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"2362\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?attachment_id=2362\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/dbpix-camel-tmagArticle.jpg?fit=592%2C289&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"592,289\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"dbpix-camel-tmagArticle\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/dbpix-camel-tmagArticle.jpg?fit=474%2C231&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-2362\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/dbpix-camel-tmagArticle.jpg?resize=300%2C146&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"dbpix-camel-tmagArticle\" width=\"300\" height=\"146\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/dbpix-camel-tmagArticle.jpg?resize=300%2C146&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/dbpix-camel-tmagArticle.jpg?w=592&amp;ssl=1 592w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The new joint company then would sell off several of their smaller brands to\u00a0Imperial Tobacco, a British-owned company that would then become the No. 3 company in America.<\/p>\n<p>According to the New York Times, declining cigarette sales are driving this move, as both companies work to restore their past profits. E-cigs are also a factor in this deal, as the e-cig industry is booming (got mixed feelings about that), and Lorillard owns the No. 1 e-cig brand, Blu E-Cigarettes.<\/p>\n<p>According to the New York Times:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"story-body-text\">Still, a takeover of Lorillard by Reynolds would represent the industry\u2019s boldest response yet to a declining, if still profitable, market. A general drop in smoking rates and aggressive public health campaigns aimed at curbing smoking have cut into sales in the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text\">About 42 million people in the United States, or nearly 18 percent of the adult population, smoke cigarettes, according to the\u00a0<a title=\"More information about the C.D.C.\" href=\"http:\/\/topics.nytimes.com\/top\/reference\/timestopics\/organizations\/c\/centers_for_disease_control_and_prevention\/index.html?inline=nyt-org\" target=\"_blank\">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>. That compares with about 21 percent of the adult population nearly a decade ago and 43 percent of the adult population in 1965, according to the C.D.C.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text\">What remains of the traditional cigarette industry is dominated by Altria, whose Philip Morris arm sells one out of every two cigarettes in the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text\">Opportunity has beckoned in the new business of e-cigarettes. A deal by Reynolds to buy the leading purveyor of e-cigarettes could spur other mergers within the industry as manufacturers jockey for position.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text\">\u201cThis transaction in our view will be very positive for the global tobacco industry and could be just the beginning of future transactions with e-cigs\/vapor being the underlying catalyst,\u201d\u00a0<a title=\"More information about Wells Fargo.\" href=\"http:\/\/dealbook.on.nytimes.com\/public\/overview?symbol=WFC&amp;inline=nyt-org\" target=\"_blank\">Wells Fargo<\/a>\u00a0analysts wrote in a note.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"story-body-text\">Anyway, interesting story as the industry adjusts to a rapidly changing and evolving market. This deal is not cast in stone, as it must be approved by federal regulators and could face scrutiny over<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A very interesting story about major changes in the works in the tobacco industry. The No. 2 tobacco company in America &#8212; R.J. Reynolds &#8212; is in talks to buy the No. 3 tobacco company in America &#8212; Lorillard (which I have misspelled Lollilard more times than I can count.). Imperial\u00a0Tobacco is also involved in &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=2360\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Slumping cigarette sales prompts R.J. Reynolds-Lorillard to talk merger<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,95,239,49,55],"tags":[581,621,638,611],"class_list":["post-2360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-altria","category-blu","category-lorillard","category-philip-morris","category-rj-reynolds","tag-altria","tag-blu","tag-lorillard","tag-rj-reynolds"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/reynolds.jpg?fit=616%2C164&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4hpEa-C4","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2967,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=2967","url_meta":{"origin":2360,"position":0},"title":"Breaking: Big Tobacco companies agree to $100 million settlement of Engle cases","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"February 25, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Breaking news! RJ Reynolds, Lorillard and Philip Morris have reached a $100 million settlement of 400 \u00a0Engle cases in Florida. I thought they might do this. I've been writing for months that, every way I cut it, it was in their interest to do this. The Engle (named after\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Engle case&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Engle case","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=24"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Howard-Engle.jpg?fit=600%2C369&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Howard-Engle.jpg?fit=600%2C369&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Howard-Engle.jpg?fit=600%2C369&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3719,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3719","url_meta":{"origin":2360,"position":1},"title":"Federal judge tells Big Tobacco, &#8220;quit wasting my damn time&#8221;","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"February 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a great story. I've posted earlier stories about as part of a Justice Department RICO (a federal racketeering law usually used against organized crime) lawsuit, Big Tobacco was ordered some time ago to come up with \"corrective statements,\" ie, full-age newspaper ads admitting that tobacco companies have lied\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Big Tobacco&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Big Tobacco","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/jp-tobacco-articleLarge.jpg?fit=600%2C274&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/jp-tobacco-articleLarge.jpg?fit=600%2C274&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/jp-tobacco-articleLarge.jpg?fit=600%2C274&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4175,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=4175","url_meta":{"origin":2360,"position":2},"title":"San Francisco bans flavoured tobacco products","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"June 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"San Francisco voters, by an extremely wide margin, voted during California's Tuesday election to ban all flavoured tobacco products. This include sugary cigars, menthol cigarettes and most importantly, sugary- or fruity-flavoured e-cig products. That is a HUGE deal because most e-cig flavours are fruity or sugary. 68 percent voted in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;e-cigarettes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"e-cigarettes","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=21"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/k300_flavors_fruits.jpg?fit=1200%2C836&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/k300_flavors_fruits.jpg?fit=1200%2C836&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/k300_flavors_fruits.jpg?fit=1200%2C836&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/k300_flavors_fruits.jpg?fit=1200%2C836&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/k300_flavors_fruits.jpg?fit=1200%2C836&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2286,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=2286","url_meta":{"origin":2360,"position":3},"title":"U.S. Supreme Court leaves Florida jury awards intact in Engle cases &#8212; this is a big deal","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"June 10, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a continuation of the long-running Engle case in Florida. Many years ago, a jury issued a $145 billion class action judgement against Big Tobacco for knowingly selling a toxic, addictive product to people, and then lying about it. This came to be known as the Engle case ($110\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Engle case&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Engle case","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=24"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Howard_Engle.jpg?fit=600%2C369&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Howard_Engle.jpg?fit=600%2C369&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Howard_Engle.jpg?fit=600%2C369&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4213,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=4213","url_meta":{"origin":2360,"position":4},"title":"Altria now trying to buy into Juuls","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"December 11, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, this was as predictable as the day is long. I wrote a few days ago about how Altria is expanding its business to marijuana. Altria, which already owns the e-cigarette brand MarkTen, is now making a move to buy into the biggest e-cigarette brand out there, Juul. It's interesting.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Juul&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Juul","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=900"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/altria-considers-stake-in-juulfc.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/altria-considers-stake-in-juulfc.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/altria-considers-stake-in-juulfc.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/altria-considers-stake-in-juulfc.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2957,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=2957","url_meta":{"origin":2360,"position":5},"title":"Higher taxes? Smoking bans? Lawsuits? The tobacco industry continues to thrive, thank you","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"February 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"A sobering story from Business Cheat Sheet, but one I was aware of. In John Oliver's recent epic rant about the tobacco industry, he touched on this issue (more on that in a subsequent post). Yes, the tobacco industry has taken some big hits in the past 30 years. A\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;British-American Tobacco&quot;","block_context":{"text":"British-American Tobacco","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=451"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Tobacco.png?fit=747%2C699&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Tobacco.png?fit=747%2C699&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Tobacco.png?fit=747%2C699&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Tobacco.png?fit=747%2C699&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2360"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2363,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2360\/revisions\/2363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}