{"id":17863,"date":"2018-12-20T15:18:46","date_gmt":"2018-12-20T23:18:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/altria-buys-35-percent-stake-in-e-cigarette-maker-juul\/"},"modified":"2018-12-20T15:18:46","modified_gmt":"2018-12-20T23:18:46","slug":"altria-buys-35-percent-stake-in-e-cigarette-maker-juul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/altria-buys-35-percent-stake-in-e-cigarette-maker-juul\/","title":{"rendered":"Altria Buys 35 Percent Stake In E-Cigarette Maker Juul"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Laurel Wamsley<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n Signs in a Chicago shop window advertise e-cigarettes and pods from Juul in September. Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris, announced Thursday it would buy a 35 percent stake in the company.<\/p>\n

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Scott Olson\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Scott Olson\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Altria, the leading U.S. cigarette manufacturer, announced Thursday it will make a $12.8 billion investment in e-cigarette maker Juul \u2013 giving it a 35 percent stake in what had been perhaps its most worrisome competitor.<\/p>\n

The move allows Altria, which is the parent company of Philip Morris, to hedge its bets on the future of nicotine, as cigarette smoking declines in the U.S. <\/p>\n

“Today, we have been joined by an unlikely \u2013 and seemingly counterintuitive \u2013 investor in our journey,” Juul Labs CEO Kevin Burns said<\/a> in a press release that seemed crafted to address a tide of criticism.<\/p>\n

“We understand the controversy and skepticism that comes with an affiliation and partnership with the largest tobacco company in the US,” Burns wrote. “We were skeptical as well. But over the course of the last several months we were convinced by actions, not words, that in fact this partnership could help accelerate our success switching adult smokers.”<\/p>\n

Juul’s USB drive-shaped devices have quickly reshaped the market since they launched <\/a>in 2015. The press release makes repeated mention of adult smokers \u2013 no accident, in a week when Juul was called out by name by the U.S. Surgeon General in an advisory declaring<\/a> youth e-cigarette use an epidemic. <\/p>\n