Juul in Deal Talks With Three Tobacco Giants

Juul, which represents 27% of e-cigarettes sold in U.S. stores tracked by Nielsen, reached the brink of bankruptcy last year amid a dispute with federal regulators over whether its products could remain on the U.S. market.

U.S. cigarette sales, after getting a lift during pandemic lockdowns, have slowed again. The Biden administration is pursuing a federal ban on menthol cigarettes and California has already banned menthols. The U.S. is also moving forward on a plan to eliminate nearly all nicotine from cigarettes.

Big tobacco companies are jockeying for position to grab up pieces of the U.S. e-cigarette market as federal regulators reshape the industry, deciding which competitors can stay and which must go.

The Food and Drug Administration asserted regulatory authority over e-cigarettes in 2016 and gave manufacturers a grace period of several years to submit their products for review to stay on the market. Millions of products were submitted by the 2020 deadline. The agency’s review of those products is still under way. So far, the FDA has rejected most of them. It has authorized some tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes made by Reynolds American Inc., NJOY Holdings Inc. and Japan Tobacco.

The FDA in June rejected Juul’s application and ordered the company to halt its U.S. sales. Then the agency stayed the order pending Juul’s appeal. The still-unresolved dispute made it difficult for Juul to raise money to cover its legal liabilities. Juul in December agreed to pay $1.7 billion in a broad legal settlement covering more than 5,000 lawsuits. Many of the lawsuits accused the e-cigarette maker of marketing its products to children and teens. Juul has said it never targeted young people and has been working to regain the trust of regulators and the public.

To pay for the settlement, Juul secured an equity investment from a group including two Juul directors, The Wall Street Journal has reported. The settlement and financing put Juul on firmer ground and allowed the company to begin talks with potential strategic partners.

Juul reached late-stage talks with Altria last fall on a potential deal to sell Juul’s international business or license its U.S. intellectual property but those talks fell apart in September as Juul prepared for a potential bankruptcy filing, people familiar with the discussions said. Those talks haven’t previously been reported.

Altria on Sept. 30 said it was ending its noncompete agreement with Juul. The decision gave the Marlboro maker the flexibility to acquire another e-cigarette brand or develop its own new vaping products. And it gave Juul the freedom to sell itself—or a significant stake—to one of Altria’s competitors.

Juul Chief Executive K.C. Crosthwaite and other Juul executives traveled this month to Switzerland, where Japan Tobacco and Philip Morris are based, to discuss Juul’s newly expanded options, some of the people familiar with the matter said.

Juul has also resumed discussions with Altria, these people said. Altria can’t buy Juul outright because of antitrust concerns: In a case that is pending, the Federal Trade Commission is seeking to unwind Altria’s 2018 investment in Juul. Altria and Japan Tobacco in October formed a partnership to develop and sell heated-tobacco devices in the U.S. and other new tobacco products abroad.

Altria sells Marlboro cigarettes in the U.S., while its erstwhile partner Philip Morris sells Marlboros outside the U.S. The companies split in 2008. Philip Morris now plans to re-enter the U.S. market through its acquisition of Swedish Match.

If the FDA ultimately halts Juul’s sales, Juul could seek U.S. authorization for a newer version of its vaporizer that has been released in Canada and the U.K. Juul also has other products under development.