Green Smoke becomes Altria’s property after a deal for $110 Million

Green Smoke becomes Altria’s property after a deal for $110 Million

The Big Tobacco giant Altria has set its mind 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 around $110 million.

Altria, even though the US most dominant tobacco company, has demonstrated slow progress into the e-cig market. It appears that they were more focused on creating their own e-cigarette, MarkTen, which was launched in August last year. MarkTen, however, proved to be more of a “disposable brand” and hasn’t made great impact on 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, as well.

A short overview of the leading Big Tobacco giants, entering the e-cig business:

RJ Reynolds decided to manufacture their own e-cigarette, and Vuse entered the market as a technologically-advanced product with microprocessor that ensures consistent vapor production and nicotine delivery. However, the device is available only in the Denver area and currently RJ are selling only two starter kits.

Lorillard was the first to enter the e-cig market in 2012 with the purchase of the blu eCig. They seemed pretty eager to get involved and seemingly prefer to build onto already established and successful business products, such as SkyCig.

British American tobacco launched Vype, their own e-cig, in September 2013. Vype is equipped with UK-made liquid which is a guarantee for top quality, and its cigarette-like-appearance targets it mainly to smokers, who are just making the switch.

Finally, Imperial tobacco, who haven’t entered the e-cig market yet, plan 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.

                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Article by Gypsy Vapes