Geneva, February 16, 2015 – JTI announced today that it has acquired from Ploom, Inc. a number of patents and trademarks relating to the tobacco vaporization device1 business. This is part of JTI’s drive to further develop the tobacco vapor category and overall mission to be the leader in next generation products. The former Ploom, Inc. will buy back JTI’s minority stake.
“This agreement is a natural evolution of our fruitful partnership and enables both companies to concentrate independently on their areas of expertise”, says Masamichi Terabatake, JTI’s Deputy CEO and Executive Vice President for Emerging Products and Corporate Strategy. “With our manufacturing and tobacco know-how, JTI has facilitated the development of the innovative Ploom tobacco vapor pods2 and this is an important element in the continuous expansion of our next generation products portfolio.”
Financial details of the agreement are confidential.