Jacek Olczak, CEO of Philip Morris International (PMI), has told the Financial Times Global Dealmaking Summit, held on Tuesday 9 November, that PMI will no longer pursue a merger with fellow tobacco firm Altria, reports ASH Daily News.

The two companies had previously discussed a merger in talks in 2019. Speculation about a merger between PMI and Altria has been around since the two companies split in 2007 after years of pressure from litigation in the US. In 2019, PMI entered talks with Altria about a USD 200 billion merger, but plans were abandoned after a US regulatory crackdown on e-cigarettes threatened Juul, the vaping company in which Altria held a 35 per cent stake. The market valuations of the two companies have since risen: PMI is worth USD 144.2 billion, while Altria is now worth USD 82 billion after a series of setbacks including political and regulatory scrutiny of Juul, the report said.
According to ASH, Olczak told Tuesday’s summit: “If you have divorced your wife, you don’t go out and buy her a new engagement ring.” He said that PMI was focused on expanding its “pharmaceutical and therapeutic” knowledge and suggested it may move into the CBD market. Earlier in 2021, PMI finalised the GBP 1 billion takeover of UK inhaler company Vectura and Olczak said that the fierce opposition to the deal from the UK’s health and science community “was a bit of a surprise”.