TABLE 1—
New Nicotine Delivery System–Related Acquisitions by Leading Tobacco Companies: Worldwide, 2010 to 2018
| Tobacco Company and Year | Product or Company Acquired | Target Market | Notes |
| Lorillard | |||
| 2012 | blu e-cigs (e-cigarette company) | United States | Lorillard purchases e-cigarette company blu e-cigs for US $154 million. Company becomes 1 of 3 companies selling to US national market. |
| 2013 | Skycig (e-cigarette company) | United Kingdom | Lorillard purchases Skycig for US $48.5 million (additional US $48.5 million in 2016 depending on financial performance benchmarks) as leading premium brand in the United Kingdom. |
| Imperial Tobacco | |||
| 2012 | Fontem Ventures (e-cigarette company) | Netherlands | Imperial creates subsidiary “to acquire, manage, operate, encumber and dispose of property, including patents and other intellectual property” related to e-cigarettes. |
| 2013 | Dragonite International (e-cigarette company) | United States, United Kingdom | Subsidiary Fontem Ventures acquires portfolio of global patents for e-cigarettes from health care and pharmaceutical company Dragonite International for US $75 million. Cofounder Hon Lik joins Fontem Ventures. |
| 2014 | Puritane (e-cigarette product) | United Kingdom | Subsidiary Fontem Ventures rebrands Dragonite brand Ruyan as Puritane and markets as behind-the-counter health care product to aid cessation. Application submitted for MHRA approval as a medical device. |
| 2014 | Fontem Ventures | United States | Subsidiary launches legal case against 11 US vaping companies or brands for patent infringement (based on Dragonite patents) including NJOY, blu e-cigs, Nicoventures, and Logic Technology. |
| 2015 | blu e-cigs (e-cigarette company) | United States | Imperial Tobacco buys blu e-cigs from Reynolds (after purchasing Lorillard) for US $7.1 billion. Imperial Tobacco markets blu as a “lifestyle brand” consumer product and safer alternative to smoking. |
| 2016 | Fontem Ventures | United States | Subsidiary reaches legal settlement with 11 US e-cigarette companies in the form of nonexclusive royalty-bearing license. |
| 2017 | Von Erl Gmbh (e-cigarette company) | Austria | Imperial acquires e-cigarette manufacturing company for undisclosed amount. |
| 2017 | Nerudia (e-juice company) | United Kingdom | Imperial acquires e-juice manufacturing company for undisclosed amount. |
| British American Tobacco (BAT) | |||
| 2010 | Voke (e-cigarette brand) | United Kingdom | Start-up Nicoventures acquires license to manufacture, market, and brand rights, and intellectual property for Voke from Kind Consumer. |
| 2012 | CN Creative (e-cigarette company) and Intellicig brand | United Kingdom | BAT acquires company and its products. |
| 2013 | CN Creative (e-cigarette company) | United Kingdom | BAT merges company with BAT subsidiary Nicoventures. |
| 2014 | Voke (e-cigarette product) | United Kingdom | Nicoventures gains MHRA approval for Voke as a medicinal product to aid smoking cessation and reduce harm. Voke is an inhaler but, rather than heat or batteries (electronic), it uses “a pressurised system that atomises a nicotine formulation into fine droplets, capable of lung absorption.” |
| 2015 | CHIC Group (e-cigarette company) | Poland | BAT acquires company and gains control of 70% of Polish market. CHIC produces Polish brands such as VOLISH, P1, Provog, LiQueen, and Aromativ, and distributes Chinese brands Joyetech and Kangertech. BAT strengthens retail networks and research and development capabilities in continental Europe. |
| 2016 | Vuse (e-cigarette product) | United States | BAT acquires Vuse brand through merger with Reynolds American. Vuse launched in 2014 by RJ Reynolds Vapor Company as 1 of 3 brands sold in US national market. |
| 2016 | Ten Motives (e-cigarette company) | United Kingdom | BAT acquires company for undisclosed sum to expand retail networks through grocery and convenience stores. |
| 2017 | Kind Consumer and Nicovations (e-cigarette companies) | United Kingdom | Nicovations (formerly Nicoventures) terminates development and distribution agreement, and reverts rights and intellectual property to Kind Consumer on the grounds that Voke failed to be launched by December 2016 because of manufacturing challenges. |
| Philip Morris International (PMI) | |||
| 2011 | Jed Rose (Duke University) | United States | PMI acquires patent for nicotine inhaler (e-cigarette). |
| 2013 | Solaris (e-cigarette product) | Israel, Spain | PMI obtains exclusive rights from Altria to PMI to market MarkTen products outside the US market under rebranded name. |
| 2014 | Nicocigs (e-cigarette company), along with Nicolite, Nicocig, and Vivid products | United Kingdom | PMI acquires company, which held 27% of UK market, for undisclosed sum. |
| 2017 | STEEM (e-cigarette product; also known as Platform 3) | TBD | Development and market test of technology acquired from Jed Rose in 2011. Device creates chemical reaction between nicotine liquid and organic acid to produces nicotine-salt vapor. |
| Altria | |||
| 2014 | Green Smoke (e-cigarette company) | United States, Israel | Subsidiary NuMark acquires Green Smoke (founded in 2008) for US $110 million (and US $20 million in incentive payments). |
| 2017 | Avail Vapor (e-cigarette retailer) | United States | Altria acquires 1 of largest US vaping product retailers (e-cigarettes, e-juice). |
| Japan Tobacco International (JTI) | |||
| 2011 | Ploom (e-cigarette company) | United States | JTI buys minority stake in company. Ploom technology vaporizes pods of loose leaf tobacco. |
| 2014 | Zandera (e-cigarette company) and E-Lites product | United Kingdom | JTI acquires Zandera (founded in 2009) for undisclosed sum. |
| 2015 | Model Two and pods (e-cigarette product) and Ploom trademark | United States | JTI acquires product line and brand name for undisclosed amount from Ploom. |
| 2015 | Ploom (e-cigarette company) | Japan | Ploom buys back minority stake from JTI and changes its name to Pax Labs. |
| 2015 | Logic Technology Development (e-cigarette company) | United States | JTI acquires company (founded in 2010) for undisclosed sum. Logic Technology was leading US independent e-cigarette company. |
| 2017 | Ploom Tech (e-cigarette product) | Japan, Switzerland | JTI launches Ploom Tech brand as a “hybrid technology to create a tobacco-enriched vapor, by heating a non-nicotine liquid, which passes through a capsule containing granulated tobacco.” |
Note. MHRA = Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency; TBD = to be determined.
Source. See list of data sources available as a supplement to the online version of this article at http://www.ajph.org.