European Commission approves PMI’s planned takeover of Swedish Match

EU antitrust regulators have conditionally approved the takeover of Swedish nicotine pouch specialist Swedish Match by the tobacco giant Philip Morris International (PMI) for an estimated €16bn.

PMI offered to sell the Swedish Match subsidiary distributor SMD Logistics to allay the worries of EU regulators if the merger goes through. The product distributor would have given the combined company a “de facto monopoly in the distribution of tobacco and nicotine products in Sweden”, according to the European Commission.