Tobacco Company Reynolds In Talks To Buy Company For Quitters

RICHMOND, Va. — Reynolds American Inc., maker of Camel cigarettes and Grizzly smokeless tobacco, is in talks to buy a Swedish company that helps people stop smoking, a tobacco expert who said he was briefed by people close to the talks told The Associated Press Monday.

The second-largest U.S. tobacco company is eyeing Niconovum AB, which sells cigarette replacement products in gum, pouch and spray form outside the U.S., according to David Sweanor, a Canadian law professor and tobacco expert.

The deal, which could be worth $44.5 million, could be imminent, he said.

Sweanor said Reynolds' interest in Niconovum may be focused on offering smoking alternatives rather than products meant to help people stop using nicotine and tobacco.

"The market's coming to understand that nicotine products exist on a very broad continuum of risk, and cigarettes are at the far risky end of that, and it's possible to have far less hazardous products that would probably meet the needs for a very significant number of smokers," Sweanor said.

The possibility of a deal between Reynolds and Niconovum was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Karl Olov Fagerstrom, an expert on smoking cessation and nicotine dependence, formed Niconovum in 2000, according to its Web site. Niconovum did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Reynolds American spokesman David Howard declined to comment.

Reynolds, like all tobacco companies, is looking to cigarette alternatives such as smokeless tobacco for growth as demand for cigarettes has declined as taxes, health concerns, smoking bans and social stigma have increased.

The company, based in Winston-Salem, N.C., has introduced Camel brand moist, smokeless tobacco and snus – small teabag-like pouches that users stick between the cheek and gum. It also has introduced dissolvable tobacco products – finely milled tobacco shaped into orbs, sticks and strips – in test markets.

Comments

[Mattjoe3]

Yes, cessation products contain nicotine, sure, an easy albeit perpetually deserved target and so should be the aspartame in your "diet" pop, the rancid oils in your fast food, the caffeine in your coffee or kids sports drink, the alcohol in your after work beer or manhattan, the nutrition-less GMO food grown by Monsanto, the fluoride in your water and the presence of trans fats (the only continent that allows it) in all that remains ....but draw no similar ire? The delivery system (tobacco) has done the bulk of the killing, nicotine, or various other things, could've been the hook.

It seems the FDA and big tobacco don't own market share for example, in e-cigarettes, based on blocking tactics thus far on any cessation products for which they have no stake. The sooner we'd stop supporting the products of companies from Reynolds' and the like, the sooner we'd be making a real statement, however, like the other slow killers I mention...­...what is the real difference between any of them from a consumer protection standpoint? What are the real odds of any of us stopping any of it?

Well, supporting tobacco-co­mpany-less cessation is as good a start as any.

[Mattjoe3]

Yes, cessation products contain nicotine, sure, an easy albeit perpetually deserved target and so should be the aspartame in your "diet" pop, the rancid oils in your fast food, the caffeine in your coffee or kids sports drink, the alcohol in your after work beer or manhattan, the nutrition-less GMO food grown by Monsanto, the fluoride in your water and the presence of trans fats (the only continent that allows it) in all that remains ....but draw no similar ire? The delivery system (tobacco) has done the bulk of the killing, nicotine, or various other things, could've been the hook.

It seems the FDA and big tobacco don't own market share for example, in e-cigarettes, based on blocking tactics thus far on any cessation products for which they have no stake. The sooner we'd stop supporting the products of companies from Reynolds' and the like, the sooner we'd be making a real statement, however, like the other slow killers I mention...­...what is the real difference between any of them from a consumer protection standpoint? What are the real odds of any of us stopping any of it?

Well, supporting tobacco-co­mpany-less cessation is as good a start as any.
http://greensmoke.com/6587.html

[Angry1541]

With nicotine, as a smoker, I can't but think of the saying--A rose by any other name.

Addiction is addiction--and that's was tobacco companies pedal--addiction.

[Kassandra]

Anyone ever notice how much that camels' face resembles the male genitalia? to appeal to young men, I guess

[NewPublius]

If you look at it even closer - without squinting - , the drawing contains elements of both male and female genitalia.­..labia, testicles, even pubic hair. Subliminal sexiness been a tradition of camel ads for more than 100 years. It's quite an artistic statement and I dare say a call to action, if you can get it up after smoking for 20 years....

[oath of fealty]

Stock market surging while main street keeps getting squeezed

good articles: http://financeopinionss.blogspot.com

It looks like 9-8% unemployment is the new normal since the govt. wants ppl to be unemployed. Otherwise we would have REAL shovel ready projects and green jobs instead of the BS we have now.

[Ricardo01]

Sarah Palin?

[karen1p]

They want to get you comin' and goin'

[TradeLosses]

Lets all pray that the health care bill doesn't get stonewalled in the Senate...

good articles; http://financeopinions.blogspot.com

This is just one step in a staircase of much needed reforms after 8 years of destruction.

[Hamatreya]

That Joe Camel is quite the genitalman.

[el sistema]

I knew someone would go there.

[MaybeMilo]

"The market's coming to understand that nicotine products exist on a very broad continuum of risk, and cigarettes are at the far risky end of that, and it's possible to have far less hazardous products that would probably meet the needs for a very significant number of smokers...­"

In other words, nicotine's as addictive as heroin, is legal, and by God they're gonna squeeze every dime they can out of the folks that are hooked.

Why not start adding nicotine to Chaquita bananas and Oreo Cookies? Their profits would go through the roof.....

[Amalek]

Finally a job for me.

They need a CEO for this company who can really run it into the ground. I can guarantee sales drops quarter on quarter of 50%.

[Skyhawk]

Sucker, Carly Fiorina is a shoe in.

[morganhoyle]

Is is just me or does that camels nose and mouth look like a giant.....­......?

[Crix]

Wow, you're the first person to have noticed that...

[PepeLepew]

First, we'll sell you addictive poison and get you hooked...
.... then, we'll sell you something to get you off the poison...

[wetdentist]

believe you me, i would much rather partake of a nicotine distribution system that was tobacco-free than relive the HORRORS of the personalit­y-altering pharmaceutical, Chantix, which was supposed to "help" me quit smoking. once i turned into a monster hermit (after only a few months of the prescription) i decided to start smoking again just to reverse the damage those pills did to my brain. i'm MUCH better now, but could stand less tar

[seattle music]

Don't wimp out. Just quit.

You just have to decide.

[balancedsolution]

Notice how the camel looks phallic in nature.

This is how marketers try to get people!

[NoblesseOblige]

I once rode a camel in Egypt. Shame on me for not knowing they were trying to get to me.

[seattle music]

Yeah, but he's flabby and flaccid.

Yich.

[Hamatreya]

Scrotesmen for the company have denied this claim outright.

[philko]

Yes. They have pointed out that these claims are pure phallusy

[CommunistUtopia]

Sounds like a good business move. It goes to show you that the business people have talent while these government hacks lack talent.

[jdacal]

That type of thinking is what has us in the mess we are in. Cheer leading crooked businesses. There's a big difference between a "good business move" and and ethical business move. Both types can be profitable, but one type can be illegal or turn out to be more expensive for the company and or society in the long term, even if it doesn't break any laws. Its short-sighted and selfish thinking.

[Amishguy]

I agree that this is a good business move. I'm not sure what makes it unethical.

With numbers of smokers dropping and stop smoking movement growing what should a business based on smoking do? Should they simply not change their business model and expect to stay in business when their volume of customers continues to decline?

No, the only logic thing to do is to change your business to match the times. In this time of folks wanting to give up smoking it only makes sense that you would focus your business on a growing number rather than a declining number.