In recent industry news, Philip Morris International Inc. announced that it has purchased Britian’s largest e-cigarette manufacturer, Nicocigs Ltd.
As you may know, Altria has partnered with Philip Morris, its parent company, to capitalize on the growing electronic cigarette industry. Not long ago the two released the MarkTen e-cigarette, which now sits on the shelves of retail chains all across the United States. Now, Phillip Morris wants to expand even further with the purchase of the Birmingham-based Nicocigs, which is a rather small company on a global level, but happens to be the largest player in the U.K. – Philip Morris said Nicocigs has a market share of the local e-cigarette market of just over 27 percent.
Philip Morris however didn’t disclose a purchase price for the acquisition of Nicocigs, saying that it wasn’t relevant.
The acquisition comes at a time where warnings display of lower 2014 earnings, which results in the company looking to push hard into the e-cigarette market due to sales for the traditional tobacco products decline. The earnings guidance that is used to predict a company’s earnings for the year, was cut a few weeks ago by Philip Morris, partly because of charges related to stopping cigarette production in Australia and the Netherlands.
[blockquote cite=”Drago Azinovic, Philip Morris’s Europe regional president” float=”left” align=”left”]This acquisition provides [us] with immediate access to, and a significant presence in, the growing U.K. e-vapor category[/blockquote]
The U.K. Government says the country is home to approximately 250 independent e-cigarette suppliers, in addition to a number of startups, catering to 1.3 million e-cigarette users in Britain.
