Altria To Lower The Value Of Its Juul Stake By $4.5 billion

Source from:  VapingPost 11/18/2019

Amid the growing health concerns surrounding vaping in the US, Altria has just announced that it is lowering the value of its 35% stake in Juul by $4.5 billion.

In January 2019, Altria, one of the world’s tobacco giants, had signed a deal with Juul, the e-cig manufacturer who had claimed its goal was making cigarette smoking obsolete. The 35% stake in Juul had cost Altria almost $13 billion and analysts and investors had expressed concerns that the tobacco giant had paid too much, especially given all the scrutiny and lawsuits that the e-cig manufacturer is facing.

Subsequently, in response to the recent events which have led to Juul having to restructure and cut hundreds of jobs, Altria has announced that it is planning to lower its 35% stake in Juul Labs by $4.5 billion. In a regulatory filing, the tobacco company cited the seemingly imminent risk that the FDA would ban flavoured vaping products, adding that there was “no single determinative event or factor” in the decision to cut the stake.  Enditem