SM and PMI to dissolve smokeless joint venture

Swedish Match and Philip Morris International have mutually agreed to dissolve their joint venture agreement relating to the sale of smokeless tobacco products outside Scandinavia and the US.

The joint venture, SMPM International, which was owned on a 50/50 basis by Swedish Match and PMI, was established in 2009.

In a press note, Swedish Match said there was a small but growing demand for snus in current joint venture markets but that the development of these markets had taken longer than the parties to the agreement had initially anticipated.

‘As a consequence the parties have mutually agreed to dissolve the joint venture,’ the press note said.

‘Swedish Match and PMI will now focus on independent strategies for the commercialization of snus in the former joint venture territory. Trademark licenses will revert to the original owners, and separate transitional agreements have been signed whereby Swedish Match will supply snus products to PMI for certain markets and PMI will perform distribution services on behalf of Swedish Match in Canada and in Russia.’

Lars Dahlgren, president and CEO of Swedish Match was quoted as saying that the hard work and efforts of all involved in the SMPM International joint venture were appreciated.

“We have attained valuable insights, and are pleased to see that snus has been viewed by many outside of our core markets as a viable alternative,” he said. “We look forward to continuing to build our knowledge and work toward further developing our snus business globally.”