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Tobacco Merger: Reynolds American To Buy Lorillard

Cigarette brands manufactured by Reynolds Amercian are displayed at a tobacco shop on July 11, 2014 in San Francisco, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Cigarette brands manufactured by Reynolds Amercian are displayed at a tobacco shop on July 11, 2014 in San Francisco, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The tobacco giant Reynolds American agreed today to buy its rival, Lorillard, bringing together two of the country’s biggest tobacco producers at a weakening time for the industry.

The deal, worth an estimated $27.4 billion, is expected to reshape the tobacco industry amid a longtime decline in smoking among Americans due to smoking bans, health concerns and social stigma.

The Wall Street Journal’s Jason Bellini and Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson discuss what the merger of two of the nation’s oldest and biggest tobacco companies means for tobacco’s future.

Guest

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