Hints and tips:
...The regulatory crackdown on e-cigarettes has prompted Philip Morris International to call off talks about a $200bn merger with Altria and sparked a shake-up at vaping company Juul, which sacked its chief...
...Philip Morris International is in talks to merge with Altria in a deal that would reunite the global and domestic US makers of Marlboro and create the world’s largest tobacco group with a market value of...
...Bonnie Herzog, a Wells Fargo strategist who supports the deal, said she had fielded “a mountain of calls” from investors in both companies who were “frustrated with the potential deal mechanics”....
...The biggest of these is what Wells Fargo analyst Bonnie Herzog described as a “global arms race for reduced risk products”....
...The $200bn deal under discussion would reunite Altria with Philip Morris International, the overseas operation it spun off in 2008, in part to shelter shareholders from the legal storm clouds that hung over...
...Bonnie Herzog, analyst at Wells Fargo, said she “wouldn’t be surprised” if the pair tried to revive their deal “when the environment is better”....
...Investors take the spotlight in potential $200bn Altria-Philip Morris tie-up deal Wednesday’s DD led off on the poor market reception to the potential tie-up between Marlboro makers Altria and Philip Morris...
...Philip Morris shares are down nearly 19 per cent year-to-date....
...However, Bonnie Herzog at Wells Fargo said it is just “entering a more mature phase” and this “doesn’t detract from its strong growth prospects globally”....
...Looking ahead to a possible escalation in levies, Giant chairperson Bonnie Tu told reporters that “no product could still stay competitive” if it were hit by a 25 per cent tariff....
...“Although the announcement’s timing was unexpected this morning, we’ve long believed the FDA taking a more comprehensive approach toward nicotine was a natural next step,” said Bonnie Herzog at Wells Fargo...
...Morris On, an electrified set of morris-dancing standards from the 1970s on which he plays, seems odd grounding for someone now recognised as a “groundbreaking force” in American alternative country....
...“We don’t believe Philip Morris International would idly sit by, and believe this increases the probability that Philip Morris could acquire Altria,” Ms Herzog said....
...Philip Morris International, the world’s largest tobacco company by market share, blamed currency swings, the introduction of plain packaging in Australia and the rise of illicit tobacco in the Philippines...
...“We were surprised to see the Blu divesture,” said Bonnie Herzog, analyst at Wells Fargo. “Divesting Blu was a business decision,” said Reynolds chief executive Susan Cameron....
...Bonnie Herzog, analyst at Wells Fargo, said Imperial could be looking to acquire several Reynolds brands, including Winston, Salem and menthol brand Kool....
...“We think a combined Reynolds-Lorillard could become a global vapour powerhouse assuming a potential strategic partnership is formed with British American Tobacco (similar to Philip Morris International’...
...US retail sales of ecigarettes could pass $1bn this year from $600m in 2012, according to Bonnie Herzog, an analyst at Wells Fargo. In the UK, there are already 1.3m users, according to ASH....
...Bonnie Herzog, tobacco analyst at Wells Fargo, called the results “impressive” and said that Philip Morris was “firing on all cylinders”....
...Vessels began returning to the well site on Saturday as tropical storm Bonnie, the second of this year’s hurricane season, was downgraded to a tropical depression....
...Tropical storm Bonnie, which has weakened to a tropical depression, has delayed work on a relief well at BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill by at least seven to nine days, retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen...
...Relief vessels involved in permanently shutting down BP’s leaking Macondo well were moving back into position yesterday after tropical storm Bonnie was downgraded to a tropical depression as it headed towards...
...Last Wednesday, before tropical storm Bonnie interrupted the clean-up effort, only 56 barrels of oil-water mix were skimmed compared with up to 25,000 barrels a day previously....
...At Pointe a la Hache, a ferry ride across the Mississippi, Bonnie Duplessis is a volunteer at a local fishermen’s relief centre established by the New Orleans’ Catholic diocese....
...“Some clients want cheap monthly premiums and will be happy not to hedge against possible high interest rates in the future,” says Bonnie Burns, L&G’s protection marketing director....
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