Marlboro Maker Buys NJOY

Altria Group Inc., the maker of iconic tobacco brand Marlboro, announced yesterday it will purchase vape-maker NJOY for $2.75B, its latest investment in nontraditional smoking products. The announcement comes days after Altria divested its stake in embattled e-cigarette manufacturer JUUL Labs, where it saw the value of its initial $13B investment shrink to $250M after regulatory issues and lawsuits.

NJOY is one of the few in the industry whose products are approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and also holds the only FDA market authorization for a pod-based e-vapor cigarette. However, it has a relatively small market share of 3% behind leaders JUUL and Vuse Alto. Experts claim the purchase price is steep for the industry, with Altria set to pay roughly 18 times NJOY's total sales in 2022.

Altria has also partnered with Japan Tobacco to market two new devices that heat tobacco without producing harmful smoke. See a breakdown of heated tobacco products here.