Altria purchasing e-cigarette maker for $110 million

Altria Group Inc. is furthering its reach into the smokeless tobacco industry.

The Richmond-based tobacco company announced Monday that its subsidiary Nu Mark LLC has entered into an agreement to purchase electronic cigarette maker Green Smoke Inc. for $110 million in cash and up to $20 million in incentive payments.

Green Smoke sells both rechargeable and disposable versions of e-cigarettes, which are sold under the Green Smoke brand.

Green Smoke, which was founded in 2008, had revenues of about $40 million in 2013. The company has operations in both the U.S. and Israel.

The agreement, which is expected to close in the second quarter of 2014, includes provisions to retain Green Smoke’s key management employees.

Altria launched its own e-cigarette in August, called MarkTen. The company said it will benefit from Green Smoke’s expertise in developing, manufacturing and marketing e-cigarettes.

Altria has been expanding its reach into the smokeless tobacco market as the number of smokers in the U.S. goes down.

Related:
https://virginiabusiness.com/article/altria-reports-earnings-down-on-special-items-lower-cigarette-sales/
https://virginiabusiness.com/article/altria-and-philip-morris-international-enter-product-licensing-and-distribu/