Altria Group Inc took another USD 4 billion charge on its investment in Juul Labs Inc and said it had revised its deal terms with the embattled e-cigarette maker, Reuters reported.

The Marlboro maker said on 30 January that the fourth-quarter charge was mainly due to the increased number of legal cases pending against Juul and the expectation that the number would continue to rise.
According to the report, Altria has recorded USD 8.6 billion in impairment charges after it took a 35 per cent stake in Juul for USD 12.8 billion in December 2018. Those charges brought down the value of its investment to USD 4.2 billion as of the end of 2019, Altria said. “I’m highly disappointed in the financial performance of the Juul investment,” Altria Chief Executive Officer Howard Willard was quoted as saying.
As part of the revised deal, Altria said it would continue to support Juul with regulatory services including the submission of its products for FDA approval. Altria will no longer provide services to Juul including logistics, distribution and access to retail shelf space, Reuters said.