Altria hopes to convert JUUL interest to voting securities

Published April 9, 2019 by Michael O'Connor

Altria Group Inc. announced on Monday it was seeking to convert its JUUL Labs Inc. interest into voting securities and have the right to designate one-third of JUUL’s board.

In December, the Henrico County-based tobacco giant made a $12.8 billion investment to take a 35% stake in JUUL, a fast-growing e-cigarette company.

Altria and JUUL have filed notification of the proposed conversion with federal antitrust authorities and are required to observe a waiting period before completing the conversion, according to Monday’s announcement.

Altria also announced it had received a second request for information from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission regarding the JUUL investment. Altria said it is cooperating with the investigation.

“Altria continues to believe that its investment and the services Altria has agreed to provide JUUL will promote competition and have long-term benefits for adult smokers,” Altria said in a press release. “Altria continues to anticipate that the conversion of its JUUL shares will occur as planned.

An earlier version of this story misstated the amount of Altria's investment in JUUL.