Reynolds American marks 10th birthday

Reynolds American (RAI) celebrated its 10th anniversary on Friday with a closing bell ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange.
Susan M. Cameron, RAI’s president and CEO, joined a group of other company employees in ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange in recognition of the decade since the newly created company started publicly trading in 2004 after the merger of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco and Brown & Williamson.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the great progress we’ve made since the merger and the start of our transformation journey,” Cameron said.
“Over the past decade, we’ve driven change across our companies and industry, found new opportunities for sustainable growth, and returned excellent value to our shareholders.
“Thanks to our employees and our companies’ powerful key brands, we’re well on the way to our ultimate goal of achieving market leadership in a transformed tobacco industry.”
In the 10-year period through June 30, 2014, RAI said, it had generated a total shareholder return of 542 percent, outpacing the S&P 500’s 112 percent.
It said too that on July 15 it had announced a plan to acquire Lorillard and its strong flagship cigarette brand, Newport. The transaction was expected to close during the first half of 2015 after regulatory clearance, and shareholder and other approvals.