--- description: Faced with a steady decline in cigarette sales, Reynolds American Inc. announced Tuesday that it would buy the third largest tobacco company in the U.S., Lorillard, Inc. for $27.4 billion. title: Reynolds American to Acquire Lorillard for $27.4 Billion image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt082f24662eb5595e/69869bb5169ab044b627a598/452023458.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Companies](/tag/companies/) ## Companies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Big Tobacco Firms Merge as Cigarette Sales Decline  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 15, 2014 12:53 PM CUT  Packs of Camel cigarettes, manufactured by Reynolds American Inc., in a display rack in London on July 11, 2014. Packs of Camel cigarettes, manufactured by Reynolds American Inc., in a display rack in London on July 11, 2014.Bloomberg/Getty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 15, 2014 12:53 PM CUT Faced with a steady decline in cigarette sales, Reynolds American Inc. [announced](http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/reynolds-american-to-acquire-lorillard-in-transaction-valued-at-274-billion-267143881.html "undefined") Tuesday that it would buy the third largest tobacco company in the U.S., Lorillard, Inc. for $27.4 billion. The deal will make Reynolds American the second largest tobacco company in the U.S. after Altria Inc., maker of Marlboro cigarettes. The companies will merge Reynold’s flagship brands, Camel, Pall Mall and American Spirit cigarettes, with Lorillard’s portfolio of Newport menthol-flavored cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Those two sectors are isolated areas of growth in an industry that has seen U.S. cigarette consumption decline by 4% last year, the _Wall Street Journal_ [reports](http://online.wsj.com/articles/reynolds-american-to-buy-lorillard-for-27-4-billion-1405422823?mod=asia%5Fhome&cb=logged0.7505484854336828 "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2985968/reynolds-american-lorillard-merger/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2985968/reynolds-american-lorillard-merger/"},"headline":"Big Tobacco Firms Merge as Cigarette Sales Decline","datePublished":"2014-07-15T12:53:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:08:59.590Z","description":"Reynolds American announced Tuesday that it would buy the third largest tobacco company in the U.S., Lorillard for $27.4 billion","url":"https://time.com/2985968/reynolds-american-lorillard-merger/","keywords":["Companies","Cigarettes","tobacco","acquisition"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt082f24662eb5595e/69869bb5169ab044b627a598/452023458.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt082f24662eb5595e/69869bb5169ab044b627a598/452023458.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Packs of Camel cigarettes, manufactured by Reynolds American Inc., in a display rack in London on July 11, 2014.","caption":"Packs of Camel cigarettes, manufactured by Reynolds American Inc., in a display rack in London on July 11, 2014.","creditText":"Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/companies/","name":"Companies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2985968/reynolds-american-lorillard-merger/","name":"Big Tobacco Firms Merge as Cigarette Sales Decline"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch: The Rise of E-Cigarettes","description":"A look at the rise of the e-cigarette market and why it's so divisive for many.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/bo5A95r5/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-12-27T16:26:24.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bo5A95r5.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/2985968/reynolds-american-lorillard-merger/","duration":"PT2M2S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/2985968/reynolds-american-lorillard-merger/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```