Philip Morris to buy Swedish Match for $16 billion

Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Philip Morris will attempt to step further into the smoke-free tobacco market, offering to buy the chewing tobacco company Swedish Match for about $16 billion in cash. Swedish Match, based in Stockholm, makes nicotine pouches, chewing tobacco and moist snuff, among other products. It derives more than 65% of its sales from smoke-free products. As recently as 2015, all of Philip Morris’ revenue came from cigarettes. By last year, however, the New York company said that about 30% of its revenue came from smoke-free products.  The goal of the New York company is to be predominantly smoke-free by 2025.