This is news that has caused a lot of ink to flow, last December the giant Altria (Marlboro) announced the acquisition of 35% of the shares from the e-cigarette manufacturer Juul for an amount of $ 13 billion. However, nothing is certain yet because the regulators will have to say whether or not this arrangement should be affected by the antitrust law.
A DILEMMA FOR REGULATORY AUTHORITIES
Antitrust ? But what are we talking about! An antitrust law is a law aimed at limiting or reducing economic concentration. It can also be defined as a law which « opposes the restriction of free competition practiced by producer groups aiming to benefit from a monopoly ».
And this is the dilemma that today concerns the agreement between Altria and Juul which offers the owner of Marlboro 35% of the shares of the manufacturer of e-cigarette against 13 billion dollars. Regulators are going to have to decide whether the Altria group can own 35% of the voting rights in Juul Labs.
According to lawyers, this arrangement raises issues related to antitrust laws, despite the recent decision d'Altria to stop the sale of “cigalike” vaping products.
The decision by tobacco giant Altria Group Inc. to acquire a minority stake in Juul Labs Inc., a young e-cigarette company, shortly after the dumping of its own "competing" products, could pose a dilemma for the authorities US competition regulation.
While the deal was signed on December 20, Altria and Juul are now awaiting antitrust approval before they can convert their shares into voting securities. To see if this "dilemma" will not prevent Altria from investing in the group which currently has control of the vaping market in the United States.
