烟草巨头菲利普·莫里斯和奥驰亚可能会合并

烟草巨头菲利普·莫里斯和奥驰亚可能会合并

Big Tobacco just unveiled a new strategy to stay big: Merge.

大烟草公司刚刚公布了一项保持规模的新战略：合并。

Altria and Philip Morris International said they have been in talks to reunite as smokers worldwide increasingly ditch the habit.

奥驰亚和菲利普莫里斯国际公司表示，随着世界范围内的烟民越来越多地戒烟，他们一直在就重新团结起来进行谈判。

The two Marlboro makers — which split more than a decade ago, with Altria taking the home territory and Philip Morris taking overseas — confirmed on Tuesday that they’re in talks to recombine in an all-stock, $200 billion-plus deal.

这两家万宝路的生产商于10多年前分拆，其中奥驰亚(Altria)收购了本土业务，菲利普•莫里斯(Philip Morris)收购了海外业务。周二，两家公司证实，他们正在谈判重组一家全股公司，交易金额超过2000亿美元。

Wall Street recoiled at the news amid reports that the deal had no premium, with some analysts questioning its rationale. Shares of Philip Morris plunged 7.7 percent while Altria fell 4 percent after climbing as much as 10 percent after the talks were confirmed.

华尔街对这一消息感到不安，因为有报道称，该交易没有溢价，一些分析师质疑其合理性。菲利普莫里斯公司股价下跌7.7%，奥驰亚公司股价下跌4%，此前该公司股价在谈判确定后一度上涨10%。

Still, some industry watchers said the merger could give Altria and Philip Morris a boost as e-cigarettes increasingly lure nicotine fiends away from combustible smokes.

不过，一些行业观察人士表示，随着电子烟越来越多地吸引尼古丁爱好者远离可燃烟雾，此次合并可能会提振奥驰亚和菲利普莫里斯。

Altria, which shelled out $12.8 billion last year for a 35-percent stake in Juul, could accelerate distribution of the controversial vaping device abroad with the help of Philip Morris.

去年，奥驰亚斥资128亿美元收购了Juul 35%的股份。在菲利普莫里斯的帮助下，奥驰亚可能会加快这种颇具争议的蒸汽设备在海外的销售。

Likewise, Philip Morris has poured $6 billion into IQOS, a gadget that heats tobacco to produce nicotine vapor without burning it, and which got approval from the US Food and Drug Administration in April. Currently sold in the UK and Japan, it’s slated to hit the US next month.

同样，菲利普莫里斯也向iqos投入了60亿美元，iqos是一种加热烟草以产生尼古丁蒸汽而不燃烧烟草的装置，它在4月份得到了美国食品和药物管理局的批准。目前在英国和日本销售，预计下个月将登陆美国。

“We believe a Philip Morris-Altria merger would create the leading global nicotine company,” Bonnie Herzog, analyst at Wells Fargo Securities, said in a note Tuesday.

富国证券(Wells Fargo Securities)分析师邦妮•赫尔佐格(Bonnie Herzog)周二在一份报告中表示：“我们相信，菲利普•莫里斯和奥驰亚(Philip Morris Altria)的合并，将造就全球领先的烟草公司。”

A merger would allow for an “improved and potentially accelerated rollout of IQOS and Juul globally,” Herzog said.

赫尔佐格表示，合并将使IQOS和Juul在全球范围内得到改善，并有可能加速推广。

Cigarette sales industrywide slumped 4.5 percent last year on an adjusted basis, according to analysts at Cowen. Meanwhile, the e-cigarette market, worth about $11 billion in 2018, is expected to grow at more than 8 percent annually over the next five years, according to Mordor Intelligence.

考恩的分析师称，去年全行业的烟草销售经调整后下滑了4.5%。同时，据莫尔多情报公司(Mordor Intelligence)称，2018年电子烟市场价值约110亿美元，预计未来五年将以每年8%以上的速度增长。

Altria and Philip Morris, which split more than a decade ago amid concerns about a US regulatory crackdown confirmed Tuesday that they have been discussing an “all-stock, merger of equals” while warning that there is no guarantee a deal will be agreed upon or even completed.

奥驰亚(Altria)和菲利普莫里斯(Philip Morris)周二证实，他们一直在讨论一项“全股票、对等合并”的交易，同时警告称，不能保证交易能达成协议，甚至完成交易。十多年前，由于担心美国监管部门的打击，两家公司分拆。

“Any transaction would be subject to the approval of the two companies’ boards and shareholders, and regulators, as well as other conditions,” Philip Morris and Altria said in their respective statements Tuesday.

菲利普莫里斯和奥特里亚周二在各自的声明中表示：“任何交易都必须得到两家公司董事会、股东、监管机构以及其他条件的批准。”