The Federal Trade Commission Sues To Reverse Altria's $13 Billion Investment in Juul

Altria's experience in marketing tobacco is suspected of targeting underage teens and adolescents

Thursday, April 2, 2020 - The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed suit to nullify Altria's $13 billion investment in Juul Inc., the world's leading manufacturer of e-cigarettes and paraphernalia, on antitrust grounds. "Altria Group, Inc. is an American corporation and one of the world's largest producers and marketers of tobacco, cigarettes and related products. It operates worldwide and is headquartered in unincorporated Henrico County, Virginia, just outside the city of Richmond," according to Wikipedia.com. The company is suspected to be the architect of Juul's illegal marketing campaign to target underage children via social media and sell their nicotine addicting vape cigarettes to teens and minors. Altria has over 50 years of experience in selling nicotine delivery systems (cigarettes), along with their partner Phillip Morris one of the world's largest tobacco companies. Altria had, according to BuzzFeed News, purchased 35% of Juul for $12.8 billion in 2018. Juul Vape pen lawsuit are represented by top national attorneys with a winning track record against big corporations and offer a free consultation.

Before the investment, Juul and Altria were competitors in the e-cigarette market. According to BuzzFeed, the two companies entered into an illegal non compete contract in exchange for the Altria investment. "The FTC alleged that Altria dealt with this competitive threat by agreeing not to compete in return for a substantial ownership interest in Juul. Altria and Juul turned from competitors to collaborators by eliminating competition and sharing in Juul's profits, Ian Connor, director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition, said in a statement."

Altria's vision for Juul's future was to copy their successful international cigarettes marketing formula and sell Juul vape e-cigarettes abroad, sidestepping potential US e-cigarettes regulation, however, according to the New York Times, international markets were not falling for it this time. "The company has been met with ferocious anti-vaping sentiment and a barrage of newly enacted e-cigarette restrictions, or outright bans, in country after country. As a result, its ambitious overseas plans have collapsed," the Times reported. Juul has been banned from entering the market in China, Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, Laos and the Philippines has enacted tough anti-vaping restrictions. According to the Times, the Netherlands, Israel, and South Korean governments have all instituted public health campaigns warning their citizens of the dangers of vaping. All of the countries listed above have expressed concern with the declaration in the United States that vaping has created a youth nicotine crisis. Although Juul has repeatedly claimed their e-cigarettes were invented to help nicotine-addicted tobacco users kick the habit, computer records once thought to have been deleted have proven that the company's growth has been fueled by adolescent and teenagers picking up the vaping habit having never used tobacco products and now becoming permanently nicotine-addicted. Experts have called the millions of youths that now vape an epidemic and the number of high schoolers vaping is doubling every year. At last count around one in four high school youths admit to vaping at least once per month, sufficient to cause nicotine addiction.

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