BRUSSELS (Reuters) – U.S. tobacco maker Philip Morris is set to get the green light from the European Commission for its bid to buy Swedish Match for $16 billion (16.20 billion euros) after offering to sell the Swedish group’s logistics business, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday.
The owner of the Marlboro brand announced a deal in May to strengthen it in the fast-growing market for alternatives to cigarettes and submitted concessions to the European Commission in early October to address competition concerns from Brussels.
The American group is seeking to increase the sale of smoke-free products to more than half of its turnover by 2025.
Swedish Match, a specialist in tobacco and nicotine products, controls around half of the world market for snus, a moist tobacco powder consumed mainly in Scandinavian countries, and is also the world leader in the nicotine sachet sector.
The European Competition Authority, which must rule on the operation by October 25, declined to comment.
Philip Morris and Swedish Match also declined to comment.
Philip Morris raised its offer for Swedish Match last week in an effort to convince shareholders who were waiting for a more attractive offer.
According to Swedish law, 90% of Swedish Match shareholders must validate the offer before November 4. Philip Morris sticks to this acceptance rate.
(Reportage Foo Yun Chee; with the contribution of Anna Ringstrom and Marie Mannes in Stockholm; French version Diana Mandiá, edited by Matthieu Protard)
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