Shares in tobacco giant Philip Morris International slumped in Tuesday trading after it emerged the company was in talks over an all-stock merger with its former unit Altria Group.
Analysts have pointed to the merits of a potential rejoining of the companies for some time, against the backdrop of falling cigarette sales and a need to seek alternative revenue streams.
According to analysts at Cowen, industry-wide cigarette sales volumes fell 4.5% on an adjusted basis in 2018. By contrast, the e-cigarette market was worth about $11bn last year and is expected to grow at more than 8% annually over the next five years, according to research firm Mordor Intelligence.Philip Morris won approval in April to sell a heated tobacco product called IQOS in the US, seen as a coup for a company looking to move beyond traditional cigarettes.
It is different from e-cigarettes such as the popular Juul device, which vaporises a nicotine-filled liquid - and Altria has a 35% stake in its producer Juul Labs Inc.Philip Morris has annual revenue of nearly $30bn, while Altria generated about $20bn last year.
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