Where there is smoke, as the saying goes, there is fire. But not always when it comes to cigarette manufacturers, it turns out.
At least not when they've been keeping an eye on the cannabis industry lately.
As the marijuana industry heats up again, tobacco companies that haven't ventured into space are keeping a close eye on the growing legal cannabis market.
Several cigarette manufacturers have already made strategic investments and partnerships. The most notable involved some of the largest tobacco manufacturers.
These partnerships include Altria Group (NYSE :), which markets Malboro in the US and partnered with Canadian marijuana grower Cronos Group (NASDAQ 🙂 (TSX 🙂 in 2018, during the early days of legalization of cannabis in that country; and more recently, British American Tobacco (NYSE 🙂 partnered with OrganiGram Holdings (NASDAQ :).
However, last week it was Philip Morris International (NYSE 🙂 who looked like he had ties to the cannabis industry. In an interview, the cigarette manufacturer's CEO, Andre Calantzopoulos, said the company is looking for "avenues to be pursued" in the cannabis sector. And while that sounded vague, the international tobacco giant was very specific about a less intuitive route.
According to a Bloomberg News report, Calantzopoulos said:
"… our priority is what we do with our smoke-free products, and that's where I'd stay on cannabis."
The multinational tobacco company behind brands like Virginia Slims, Benson & Hedges, and Marlboro outside of the US may be telegraphing that it will play a less obvious game in the marijuana space. Perhaps it could be something to match the small investment it made in the beginning when it invested in a small Israeli medical cannabis company, Syqe Medical. That deal reportedly aimed to lock in global rights to technology for smoke-free nicotine projects and applications.
Tilray Marks Merger With Purchase Review
Canadian cannabis companies Tilray (NASDAQ 🙂 and Aphria (NASDAQ 🙂 (TSX 🙂 finally announced the completion of their merger on Monday, bringing the ultimate stamp of approval was put on the founding of the largest marijuana grower in the world.
The measure of the largest cannabis company is based on revenue generated. The newly merged company, which will operate and trade under the Tilray name on the US stock exchange, will have a market capitalization of approximately $ 81 million.
The last green light for the merger came last Friday, when Tilray shareholders approved the move
Merrill Lynch analyst Heather Balsky started last week coverage of Tilray stock, gave it a 'buy' rating and set a target of $ 23. Tilray's stock fell more than 7% Monday to $ 17.02, a potential gain of 35% predict.
The Tilray stock has increased slightly more than 150% in the past year.
