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Altria board approves $13 billion investment in e-cigarette company Juul
Altria's board of directors has approved its $12.8 billion investment in leading e-cigarette manufacturer Juul, with a formal announcement planned for Thursday before market open, people familiar with the matter told CNBC. Juul's board is meeting to consider the deal.
Tobacco giant Altria will invest $12.8 billion for a 35 percent stake in Juul, which values the e-cigarette company at $38 billion, the people said. The deal combines the maker of the best-selling cigarette with the best-selling e-cigarette and comes as both companies are under pressure.
The deal marks a turning point for Juul. The company has positioned itself as anti-tobacco, with a mission to help to wean adults off combustible cigarettes, which are responsible for killing about half a million Americans every year. With this deal, though, it will be partly owned by one of the world's biggest tobacco giants.
As such, Juul stipulated a number of conditions to help ensure the Altria deal furthers its goals. As part of the agreement, Altria would add Juul coupons to Marlboro and other cigarette packs and give Juul some of its prime shelf space, the people familiar said.
Also at NYT, Reuters, and The Verge.
See also: Marlboro maker Altria nears deal to take 35 percent stake in leading e-cigarette company Juul, sources say
$1.3 million: the average bonus Juul employees get after a deal with a cigarette maker
[$38 billion] makes Juul Labs Inc. more valuable than Airbnb and Elon Musk's SpaceX, according to Bloomberg News.
Previously: E-Cig Maker Juul Valued at $15-16 Billion
FDA Raided E-Cigarette Maker Juul to Look for Evidence That the Company Targets Minors
Juul Boosts Lobbying Spending as Potential E-Cigarette Regulations Loom
Marlboro Owner Invests $1.8 Billion in Cannabis Company
(Score: 2) by sjames on Saturday December 22 2018, @07:27AM (2 children)
Popcorn lung is a condition that arises from inhaling diacetyl (used in artificial butter flavor) at too high a concentration. It has primarily affected people who worked in plants that packaged artificial butter flavored microwave popcorn, but is thought to have affected one or two people who prepared and ate a LOT of microwave popcorn.
At the time the reports came out, vape suppliers were mostly small businesses that lived and died on reputation. The vast majority of them purged diacetyl from their products within a month even though none of them contained enough to violate the new OSHA regulations (that only came along two years later). The few that didn't purge it put warnings on the flavors that contained diacetyl or went out of business due to poor reputation.
Of course, that market is mostly interchangeable rebuildable atomizers and ecigs where you wrap your own coils when needed and fill them with bulk e-juice (either ready made or self formulated), so isn't what the kids are in to.
Stick to those vendors and you should be fine. As for Juul, as a large corporation I wouldn't be surprised by anything that's in their juice as long as it's the cheapest they can get.
The other relevant chemical of concern would be Acetaldehyde, but you shouldn't find much of that in an e-cig as long as you don't run it hot enough to buirn.
TL;DT version, the Mon'n'Pop e-cig industry has been much more careful than required by any regulatory agency, and still is. Meanwhile, even using Juul, the great fear of teens vaping is overblown since it's mostly the kids who would otherwise be sneaking cigarettes (probably menthol or ultra-lights).
(Score: 2) by edIII on Saturday December 22 2018, @09:19PM (1 child)
Thanks for information. I don't vape tobacco or these flavored juices. I exclusively vape THC/CBD products, and looking at my pen I notice that those products run on a lower temperature. What I don't know is what is in the THC laden "syrup" inside the cartridges.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Sunday December 23 2018, @02:18AM
Probably not diacetyl, since that is a flavoring. Commonly in nicotine juice, vegetable glycerin or propylene glycol are used as a carrier, but no Idea what may be in your juice other than the active ingredients.