Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

An Analysis of the FTC's Attempt to Stop the Altria-Juul Labs Deal

2020; Volume: 6; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.18001/trs.6.4.7

2333-9748

David T. Levy, Clifford E. Douglas, Luz María Sánchez‐Romero, K. Michael Cummings, David Sweanor,

Consumer Market Behavior and Pricing

On 20 December 2018, Altria, the largest US cigarette company, announced an offer for a 35% share of the large and rapidly growing vaping product company, Juul Labs. On 2 April, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission issued a complaint that the deal was anticompetitive and should be voided. This paper analyzes the deal. We find that the deal gives Altria market power in the e-cigarette market through its support of Juul in retail stores and through the agreement not to otherwise compete in the e-cigarette market. The deal also has implications for its marketing of heated tobacco product IQOS and generally may provide Altria greater control of the broader nicotine delivery product market.