(Bloomberg) -- JT Group agreed to buy discount cigarette maker Vector Group Ltd. for about $2.4 billion to expand in the US, changing tack after war closed off its path for growth in Russia.
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The Japanese tobacco company plans to acquire all of Miami-based Vector for $15 a share, according to a statement Wednesday. The purchase price represents a 7.2% premium to Vector’s closing price on Tuesday in New York.
The deal will boost Japan Tobacco’s US market share to about 8% from 2.3% and give it ownership of two of the top 10 US cigarette brands, according to Eddy Pirard, chief executive officer of JT International. The US is the world’s most profitable market for tobacco firms.
JT, which owns brands like Mevius in its home market, kicked off an international expansion in 1999 when it acquired the non-U.S. operations of R.J. Reynolds. With cigarette sales waning in Japan and other developed markets, the company has sought out emerging markets while investing in alternative products and seeking greater scale.
“Even though cigarette volumes are declining at a double-digit pace, robust pricing will allow the company to generate significant cash for future reduced-risk US product investment,” said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Duncan Fox.
In 2017, JTI purchased Indonesian clove cigarette maker Karyadibya Mahardhika, adding the tobacco business of Bangladeshi firm Akij Group in 2018.
A push for growth in Russia was derailed by the 2022 invasion into Ukraine, forcing JTI to end investment there. Deepening its access to the US, the second-largest tobacco market, will help to partly fill the gap.
JTI said it also plans to use cash flow from the Vector deal to invest in products including heated tobacco. JTI has a joint venture with Altria Group to commercialize its Ploom heated tobacco in the US, and said earlier this year it plans to increase spending on the category by 50% as it adds new markets.
Vector, the No. 4 US cigarette maker by market share, owns Liggett brands like Eagle20s and Liggett Select. Its board backs the sale unanimously, according to the statement.
Shares of Vector rose 7.6% to $15.05 in pre-market trading in NY. The stock had gained 24% this year through Tuesday.
(Updates with market share in third paragraph, adds pre-market trading)
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