Altria Group (NYSE:MO) said on Monday it would buy e-cigarette startup NJOY Holdings for about $2.75 billion in cash, in fresh bets by the Marlboro maker on the fast-growing market after losing billions through its investment in Juul.
The tobacco giant said it would exchange its investment in Juul Labs, which was worth $250 million as of Dec. 31, for certain of the vaping company’s heated tobacco intellectual property.
The NJOY deal will include an additional $500 million in cash payments subject to regulatory outcomes related to certain NJOY products, Altria said.
NJOY is one of the handful of vaping companies whose products have clearance from federal regulators. The company makes NJOY Ace Pods and disposable e-cigarettes under the NJOY Daily brand.
NJOY Ace is currently the only pod-based e-vapor product with market authorizations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The company expects to record financial impact of the agreement in the first quarter of 2023 and intend to treat any such amounts as a special item and exclude it from its adjusted diluted earnings per share. Altria recorded a $100M loss related to its investment in the vaping company in Q4 2022.
MO shares gained in price 29 cents to $46.83.
