State AGs In The News - May 28th, 2015

Antitrust

FTC Approves Reynolds Acquisition of Lorillard, With Divestitures

• The Federal Trade Commission approved Reynolds American's ("Reynolds") acquisition of Lorillard, on the condition that the companies divest four cigarette brands—Winston, Kool, Salem, and Maverick—to Imperial Tobacco Group. Reynolds originally offered to sell these four brands, along with Lorillard's Blu e-cigarettes, as a condition of its $27.4 billion purchase in July 2014. The FTC's Complaint (which it issued alongside its proposed Consent Order and redacted Decision and Order), does not mention Blu.
• According to the FTC "without the divestiture to Imperial, the proposed merger raises significant competitive concerns by eliminating current and emergent, head-to-head competition between Reynolds and Lorillard in the U.S. market for traditional combustible cigarettes. It also increases the likelihood that the merged firm would unilaterally raise prices, and that