Lorillard - who is next?

[RockinRay]

I thought I would start a different thread on this.

Since we all know now about the Lorillard purchase, I wonder who will be next?

PM and RJR will not sit still for this and I think they will be very aggressive on snapping up another e-cig company or companies. The question is which company? Is V2 a possibility?

I am not sure, just thought I would start this thread for "speculation"...

There are many here that are smarter than I am and I am in hopes they will chime in on this.

 

[Petrodus]

We are all wondering about who's next and when
Yesterday ... V2 also came to mind

Someone posted on the other thread, some vendors entered
the market with a business plan of being bought out.

We live in interesting times

 

[sherid]

Who knows, but my guess is that Ruyan is just waiting on the right offer from RJR or Phillip Morris. Last year RJR conducted a study in Richmond for vapers, trying out their version of an e cig. Heard nothing of the results, but obviously they have been working on developing an e cig. With their resources and science, it will be state of the art. Since Ruyan is the pioneer of e cigs and has already fought the courts and won patent rights, they are the natural choice for BT. I know that Altria already made an offer that Ruyan turned down: just waiting for the right numbers IMO.

 

[sqirl1]

I think it'll go like this:

Phillip Morris will buy out N-Joy

RJR will make a Camel E-cig with really controversial bright colored packaging that'll piss off the antz like they did with dissolvables

BAT will stick with that nicotine inhaler they were talking about a couple months ago

 

[mirinuh]

Look for the next deal to be announced by a mid-tier, albeit seriously successful tobacco company- Swisher International Group. Cigar manufacturers and e-cigs should have a natural political alliance- both are currently exempt from Chapter IX of the FSPTCA and the cigar companies have done an exceptional job of working the political machine to keep their various exemptions, having been able to corral bi-partisan support for their special status. On the e-cig side- NJOY is a natural target for a tobacco company- they have distribution, retail placement and they've "salted" their executive sales team with a number of ex Altria sales and marketing executives. NJOY would also welcome a buy out.

 

[RockinRay]

Yes, NJOY makes perfect sense as they have the distribution in place...

I have seen Bull Smoke in some of the tobacco shopes here in Minneapolis too...

 

[DC2]

Who knows, but my guess is that Ruyan is just waiting on the right offer from RJR or Phillip Morris. Last year RJR conducted a study in Richmond for vapers, trying out their version of an e cig. Heard nothing of the results, but obviously they have been working on developing an e cig. With their resources and science, it will be state of the art. Since Ruyan is the pioneer of e cigs and has already fought the courts and won patent rights, they are the natural choice for BT. I know that Altria already made an offer that Ruyan turned down: just waiting for the right numbers IMO.

You may remember that Phillip Morris was in discussions with Ruyan a couple of years ago.
That was back when the Ruyan stock was making a big move, at least until the talks fell through.

Bill Godshall makes a good point that until someone stands up to Ruyan in court, we won't know for sure how the patent will stand up.
But Ruyan has not lost a single patent suit yet, either in China or American courts.

I'm sure Phillip Morris has been studying that patent and will act accordingly.
Just another fascinating aspect of the recent developments.

 

[mirinuh]

Bill Godshall does make a good point- someone needs to test the patents in court. The problem is that that is a slow and expensive process. The case that Ruyan initiated against the 14 US e-cig companies in January of 2011 is not scheduled to go to trial until late spring or early summer of 2013. In the meantime, expect a number of settlements with Ruyan by the remaining e-cig defendants in order to facilitate acquisitions with tobacco companies. Most of these companies will not be able to take the patent infringement case all the way to a jury and through appeals without the help of a deep-pocketed partner and most of the deep-pocketed partners will want them to settle before they even become partners (acquirers).

 

[DC2]

Being someone who bought a pocketful of Ruyan/Dragonite stock awhile back, I would mind them getting paid.
In my opinion Hon Lik certainly deserves it.

It has often been said on this forum that Hon Lik deserves a Nobel Prize.
I'd settle for him getting paid.

 

[BuzzKill]

Being someone who bought a pocketful of Ruyan/Dragonite stock awhile back, I would mind them getting paid.
In my opinion Hon Lik certainly deserves it.

It has often been said on this forum that Hon Lik deserves a Nobel Prize.
I'd settle for him getting paid.

Did'nt you know PATENTS are EVIL ???????

Only greedy self serving basterds have them.

 

[panachronic]

Who knows, but my guess is that Ruyan is just waiting on the right offer from RJR or Phillip Morris. Last year RJR conducted a study in Richmond for vapers, trying out their version of an e cig. Heard nothing of the results, but obviously they have been working on developing an e cig. With their resources and science, it will be state of the art. Since Ruyan is the pioneer of e cigs and has already fought the courts and won patent rights, they are the natural choice for BT. I know that Altria already made an offer that Ruyan turned down: just waiting for the right numbers IMO.

I question whether a company as large as PM or RJR is nimble enough to bring a "state of the art" e-cigarette to market. Things are changing too quickly for that.

 

[classwife]

Multiple threads ...closing this one