International Business: Philip Morris launches recommended $16 billion cash offer for Swedish Match – Gulf Digital News

International Business: Philip Morris launches recommended $16 billion cash offer for Swedish Match – Gulf Digital News

STOCKHOLM: Marlboro-maker Philip Morris International Inc (PMI)said on Wednesday it was making a recommended cash offer to buy Swedish tobacco and nicotine products maker Swedish Match for 106 Swedish crowns per share.

The offer value for the Stockholm-listed company amounted to approximately 161.2 billion Swedish crowns ($16 billion), the company said in a statement.

Swedish Match' shares leapt to a record high on Tuesday after PMI confirmed media reports it was in talks to buy it in a bet on the fast-growing market for cigarette alternatives.

The Swedish company makes most of its profit from Swedish-style snuff called "snus", but sales of its Zyn tobacco-free nicotine pouches are growing rapidly in Scandinavia and the United States as consumers become more health-conscious.

PMI was spun off from US peer Altria in 2008.

Acquiring Swedish Match would give PMI, which is US-based but does not sell its products in the country, access to a ready-made distribution network, taking on its former owners on its home market.

The Swedish Match board said in a separate statement it believed "the terms of the offer recognise Swedish Match’s long-term growth prospects, taking into account the risks associated with the realisation of those prospects".

The resolution was supported by all board members save