Green Smoke becomes Altria’s property after a deal for $110 Million
The Big Tobacco giant Altria has decided on the Florida-based e-cig company Green Smoke. The purchase will mark another milestone for the expansion of the Big Tobacco companies into the e-cig industry.
Altria decided to enter the market after Lorillard successfully purchased blu eCigs in 2012 and SkyCig in 2013. Green Smoke is currently the leading cig-a-like cigarette, and the purchase was estimated at around $110 million.
Although the US's most dominant tobacco company, Altria has demonstrated slow progress in the e-cig market. They were more focused on creating their e-cigarette, MarkTen, which launched in August last year. MarkTen, however, proved to be more of a “disposable brand” and hasn’t significantly impacted the e-cig industry.
The deal is a sensible investment for Altria, who made more than $24.5 billion in revenues last year, and a pretty sweet deal for the Green Smoke company.
A short overview of the leading Big Tobacco giants entering the e-cig business:
RJ Reynolds decided to manufacture their e-cigarette, and Vuse entered the market as a technologically-advanced product with a microprocessor that ensures consistent vapor production and nicotine delivery. However, the device is available only in the Denver area, and currently, RJ is selling only two starter kits.
Lorillard was the first to enter the vape kits market in 2012 by purchasing the blu eCig. They seemed eager to get involved and seemingly preferred to build on already established and successful business products, such as Skyrim.
British American Tobacco launched Vype, their e-cig, in September 2013. Vype is equipped with UK-made liquid, which guarantees top quality, and its cigarette-like appearance targets mainly smokers who are just making the switch.
Finally, Imperial Tobacco, which hasn’t entered the e-cig market yet, plans to do it in the following year. They have already purchased intellectual property from Chinese e-cig company Dragonite and are working on their product. Also, read our previous article about ecig war.
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