British American Tobacco (BAT) and RJ Reynolds Tobacco will work together to develop and cross-license vaping technologies through 2022 while cooperating on regulatory and manufacturing issues, the companies said.

BAT also said it was acquiring the CHIC Group, which makes e-liquids and markets Polish e-cigarette brands including Volish, P2 and Provog. “It provides BAT with scale and market reach through Europe’s largest e-cigarette retailing network,” said Kingsley Wheaton, BAT managing director of next generation products.
A process for joint research and development is part of the cooperation agreement, which should be finalized by the end of this year, Reynolds said.