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• RICHER: RJR nets $1.5 billion from deal 

Cold, hard cash is what R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. stands to gain in buying Nabisco Group Holdings Corp.

As a result of the deal, RJR emerged from the weekend $1.5 billion richer, which will certainly help the company's standing on Wall Street . . .

Analysts attributed Nabisco Group Holdings' sluggish performance to its ''tobacco taint,'' scaring off investors who feared the ever-increasing avalanche of cigarette litigation.

Unable to shake this taint, Nabisco executives began pondering an alliance with the tobacco giants, Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds, which are well-armed for litigation.

Steven Goldstone, the chairman of Nabisco Group Holdings, initiated the deal and worked on the RJR purchase, Feldman said.

RJR has been working on buying Nabisco Group, essentially a cash shell for the operating company Nabisco, for four or five months, Feldman said.

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