Tobacco giants Philip Morris and Altria are considering merging to help battle declining cigarette sales. The potential deal would help dominate the market for vaping products.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/L. Gillieron
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The world's largest cigarette maker, Philip Morris International (PMI), said on Tuesday it was in merger talks with US firm Altria Group. An eventual tie-up would reunite the two tobacco companies more than a decade after Altria spun off from PMI.
A merger could help the two companies confront declining cigarette sales and focus on other products beyond the traditional tobacco market.
The companies are discussing a "potential all-stock merger of equals," Altria and PMI said in identical news releases, noting that any agreement would have to be approved by the company's boards of directors, shareholders and regulators.
The companies said they intended to make no further comment regarding the discussions "unless and until it is appropriate to do so."
Altria has diversified in recent years, taking stakes in wine, beer and cannabinoid companies as well as the leading US e-cigarette company, Juul Labs.
Shares in Philip Morris on Tuesday morning dropped more than 5% on Wall Street after the news of the merger talks, while Altria jumped around 8%.
Cigarette smoke contains more than 200 toxins that harm your body. But shortly after you stop smoking, it begins to recover.
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20 minutes without cigarettes
20 minutes after your last cigarette, your blood pressure and pulse rate return to normal. They’re raised during smoking because nicotine activates the sympathetic nervous system, putting your body in fight-or-flight mode.
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12 hours without cigarettes
12 hours after quitting, carbon monoxide levels in your blood drop and blood oxygen levels increase to normal. Carbon monoxide, a component of cigarette smoke, impedes the transport of oxygen in the blood.
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2 days without cigarettes
2 days after your last cigarette, your senses of smell and taste, which are impaired by smoking, begin to return.
3 days without cigarettes
After 3 days, your bronchial tubes relax and breathing becomes easier. At this point, your body will be completely free of nicotine, so nicotine withdrawal symptoms are especially severe. They can include headaches, nausea and cramps, cravings, frustration and anxiety.
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A few months without cigarettes
A few months after the last cigarette, the body's blood supply has improved. The lungs' oxygen uptake has risen by 30 percent. Coughing fits are rarer because the cilia, the tiny hairs in the lungs that sweep up foreign matter, have regrown.
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One year, ten years, 15 years without cigarettes
After a year without smoking, your risk of heart disease is lowered by 50 percent compared to that of a smoker. The heart attack rate for smokers is 70 percent higher than for non-smokers. After ten years, the risk of dying of lung cancer is about half that of a person who is still smoking. After 15 years, the risk of coronary heart disease is the same as that of someone who has never smoked.
