BT buying e cig maker?

[rkh3]

Philip Morris In Negotiations With Original E-Cigarette Company


Little is known about the backdoor meetings with little to any media coverage


by Tiffany Ellis

HOUSTON, TX -- (OfficialWire) -- 11/04/09 --

What many e-cigarette users have feared from day one could be in the works: Philip Morris, the biggest maker of tobacco cigarettes in the United States, has been discovered to be in negotiations with Ruyan Group, which manufactured the original e-cigarette starting in 2005. A short news article on Quamnet.com states the seriousness of the matter:

“Ruyan Group said that an agreement between the Company and Philip Morris International Management S.A. could not be reached on matters relating to the co-operation between them on its “electronic cigarettes” by the end of the first and exclusive phase of negotiations.”

As the Food and Drug Administration has recently been given authority over the tobacco industry, the move by Philip Morris could be a carefully calculated move to gain controlling interest over the products inside the United States and abroad. The motives of the company are unclear at this point, but speculations include everything from wanting to shut the industry down by acquiring the rights to it all the way to possibly launching its own e-cigarette product and taking it mainstream.

Ruyan Group's stock trading was suspended on November 2nd pending an announcement on a price sensitive matter. This could be related to a sudden 20% jump in the company's stock price.

But, that isn't the first time Ruyan Group's stock has soared. Back in June, the stock rose over 35% after the announcement that the Company was negotiating with what Quamnet called an “independent third party”. Shortly afterward on July 6th, that third party became known to be Philip Morris.

In related news, Ruyan Group also sold their office properties for HK$28.57 million to an undisclosed buyer on October 23rd.

What this could mean for the e-cigarette industry both in the United States and internationally is uncertain, but what's clear is this: Philip Morris wants in.


PRINTED FROM OFFICIALWIRE

[Dredbull]

NOO!! RUYAN should be the slayer of BT not the pawns of BT!!

[SmokeyJoe]

Please edit with link to original source and limit the number of paragraphs to two as per: About linking to news stories - Read before you post!

[wiscoking13]

wow big news to say the least.
My guess is they want to shut it down, you would think if big tobacco wanted in they have the money to back themselves.

Or the Runyan group owns a ton of pattens that big tobacco wants

[IANAN]

Ruyan owns the patent on the e-cig.

PM released a product called the Accord. The accord vaporized tobacco and VG and looked like some of the mods here- it was not on the market very long.

The RJR product- called the Eclipse is still on the market as far as I can tell-- well I just bought a pack- had to look around for them though.

[doots]

Wonder why it took them so long.. lol

You knew this was coming..

[danielwd]

As of now, 00329 (Ruyan Group Holdings) still is under trading suspension. Just checked and no trading is occuring.

[Scottbee]

I think Ianan may have hit it close to the head. Ruyan basically holds "THE" patent on PV's. It's a pretty comprehensive patent, and it has been filed/PAF'd in the U.S. as well (May 2007). It is my understanding that most of the Chinese PV manufacturers have a licensing agreement with Ruyan (there are some exceptions.. and some of those exceptions have led to court cases already).

If PM can come to an agreement with Ruyan, or otherwise acquire Ruyan or their patent holdings, then the manufacturer of most of the PV's that we know and love could come to an abrupt end. Or.... PM could become a domestic manufacturer and or licensee of the technology.

The FDA may not be our biggest problem here. On the other hand, PM could become our biggest friend.

[General Idea]

A mainstream PM owned/designed ecig would make me worry.

I don't think they are looking to stop the trend by buying in. They've been banking on the addictive quality of nicotine for quite some time. I would NEVER trust their eliquids though - they would find special CRACK additives to keep you coming back to their brand.

Imagine a real marlboro juice, branded and all. Heck, they could afford take a loss and give everyone in America a disposable ecig and update their mailing list while their at it.

This is a very natural move in a lot of ways - the FDA recently banned flavored cigarettes and I'll bet their marketing people are stoked with the new potential.

[Scottbee]

I'm not worried about e-liquid. I think we will always be able to find a source for liquid.

Finding a source for decent attys... that's another story!