http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/org/jto.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.newspage.com/cgi-bin/pnp.GetStory?story=m0717024.9cc&topic=19912&date=19990719&inIssue=TRUE&mode=topics http://tobacco.org/news/24611.html Japan Tobacco has put its plans to launch cigarette brand Mild Seven in the UK on hold. Insiders in the tobacco market claim the cigarette was scheduled for launch in the UK this year. But they say it is increasingly unlikely that the launch will go ahead before the end of the year. . . Japan Tobacco is thought to be pre-occupied with its pounds 5bn purchase of the RJR Nabisco's tobacco business, RJ Reynolds International, which took place in March. NewsEdge UK Mon, 19 Jul 1999 04:00:00 GMT http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/990623/sr.html http://tobacco.org/news/23256.html Malaysia's RJ Reynolds Bhd said on Wednesday it has received approval from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry for a subsidiary of Japan Tobacco Inc to take a stake in the company. Reuters Wed, 23 Jun 1999 04:00:00 GMT http://www.newspage.com/cgi-bin/pnp.GetStory?story=g0617233.600&topic=19912&date=19990621&inIssue=TRUE&mode=topics http://tobacco.org/news/23128.html Two major credit ratings agencies Friday gave Japan Tobacco Inc. high ratings after it became the world's third largest tobacco company. Moody's Investors Service gave the giant, which holds a monopoly on cigarette production in Japan, a high quality "Aa3" rating. Standard and Poor's assigned the firm an "AA-minus" rating. NewsEdge Mon, 21 Jun 1999 04:00:00 GMT http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/sc/story.html?s=v/nm/19990617/sc/health_corixa_2.html http://tobacco.org/news/23013.html A spokesman for the American Lung Association, Norman Childs, said, ``Tobacco companies are responsible for illness and death worldwide, if they are spending money to ameliorate some of those problems, that is positive.'' Even so, he suggested it would be far better for companies such as Japan Tobacco, which is 67 percent owned by the Japanese government, to change marketing practices and help keep people from starting to smoke in the first place. ``If the aim is to provide a vaccine so that people can take it and keep on smoking, we would be against it,'' Childs added. ''Lung cancer is just one of the many health problems caused by smoking.'' Officials at Seattle-based Corixa could not be reached for comment. Reuters Thu, 17 Jun 1999 04:00:00 GMT http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/990618/hl.html http://tobacco.org/news/22997.html ``I would not consider any fresh developments now. But in the medium-to-longer term, it is possible we will pursue more takeovers, alliances with global tobacco companies or even sell part of our operations,'' chief executive officer Masaru Mizuno told Reuters in a recent interview. With last month's $7.38 billion takeover of RJR International, known for its Camel and Winston brands, JT became the world's third-largest tobacco group behind Philip Morris of the United States and U.K.-based British American Tobacco Plc (BAT). Reuters Fri, 18 Jun 1999 04:00:00 GMT http://infoseek.go.com/Content?arn=PR0004-19990616&qt=smoking+or+tobacco+or+cigarettes&sv=IS&lk=noframes&col=NX&kt=A&ak=news1486 http://tobacco.org/news/22884.html Corixa Corporation (Nasdaq: CRXA), a research- and development-based biotechnology company, today announced it has entered into a multi-year research collaboration and license agreement with the pharmaceutical division of Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT) to support Corixa's development of therapeutic lung cancer vaccines. The agreement provides JT with exclusive rights to vaccine and antibody-based products aimed at treating lung cancer and potentially other solid tumors in humans, principally in Japan and North America, as well as co-exclusive rights, with Zambon Group spa, in China. PR Newswire Wed, 16 Jun 1999 04:00:00 GMT http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/990616/jr.html http://tobacco.org/news/22871.html JT's chief executive officer Masaru Mizuno told Reuters in an interview that the $7.83 billion takeover of the non-U.S. tobacco operations of RJR, known for its Camel and Winston brands, would result in synergies generating an estimated $300 million a year in profits after five years' time. Mizuno said the use of an established sales network at RJR International, especially in Europe, combined with JT's strength in East Asia, should create synergy benefits in sales, while joint purchases of foreign tobacco leaf would help reduce costs. ``By adding these synergies from the takeover, I believe the impact will surpass the takeover cost,'' he said. Under the takeover, JT obtained 22 RJR International factories operating in 18 countries, including main plants in Germany, Russia and Turkey. This comes on the top of JT's own overseas factories, such as one in Manchester, Britain. ``We would like to make decisions on how to unify operations of RJR International and JT's international division by the end of this year. This involves how we should locate and consolidate overseas factories,'' Mizuno said. Reuters Wed, 16 Jun 1999 04:00:00 GMT http://interactive.wsj.com/archive/retrieve.cgi?id=DI-CO-19990603-000633.djml http://tobacco.org/news/22290.html An offer by a unit of Japan Tobacco Inc. (J.JTB or 2914) for outstanding shares in the Malaysian unit of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco at 3.94 ringgit a share ($1=MYR3.8) isn't likely to get many takers, analysts said Thursday. "The price is very low so there is no reason for anyone to take it up," said one Kuala Lumpur-based analyst covering the tobacco industry. The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition Thu, 03 Jun 1999 04:00:00 GMT http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/191321308&ticker= http://tobacco.org/news/21129.html $7.8 billion purchase makes JT third largest global tobacco company, controlling seven of the world's top twenty cigarette brands     Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT) (TSE: 2914) today announced that it has completed its acquisition of RJR Nabisco Holdings Corporation's non-U.S. tobacco operations. Business Wire Wed, 12 May 1999 04:00:00 GMT http://www.newspage.com/cgi-bin/pnp.GetStory?story=n0511090.600&topic=19912&date=19990512&inIssue=TRUE&mode=topics http://tobacco.org/news/21126.html A consortium of 27 Japanese and foreign banks led by Citibank extended a syndicated loan Tuesday worth an aggregate 5 billion dollars, or some 600 billion yen, to Japan Tobacco Inc. (2914) to cover its acquisition of RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp.'s overseas tobacco operations. The syndicated loan, the largest of its kind ever extended to a corporation in Asia, will mature in 364 days. NewsEdge Wed, 12 May 1999 04:00:00 GMT http://quote.bloomberg.com/analytics/bquote.cgi?story_num=46936415&view=story&version=markets.cfg http://tobacco.org/news/21120.html JT will also extend an unconditional offer to buy the rest of the Malaysian company at 3.944 ringgit each, RJ Reynolds said in a statement. The purchase values the company at 1.03 billion ringgit. Bloomberg News Wed, 12 May 1999 04:00:00 GMT http://www.ft.com/hippocampus/qcc742.htm http://tobacco.org/news/21053.html Citibank, the US banking group, will today complete a $5bn syndicated loan for Japan Tobacco in the largest such deal arranged for a Japanese company. The loan will finance the Japanese company's planned $7.83bn acquisition of the non-US business of RJR Nabisco, which was announced in March. It is believed to be the largest syndicated loan arranged in Asia. The loan provides fresh evidence of the degree to which western banks are penetrating the financial sector in Japan as deregulation gathers pace. Financial Times Tue, 11 May 1999 04:00:00 GMT http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/990412/jf.html http://tobacco.org/news/19469.html Citibank is offering 22.5 basis points to senior arrangers committing US$500 million to its fully underwritten, US$5 billion credit for Japan Tobacco's US$7.83 billion acquisition of the overseas cigarette business of RJR Nabisco Holdings (NYSE:RN - news), bankers said on Monday. Reuters Mon, 12 Apr 1999 04:00:00 GMT http://www.bloomberg.com/news2.cgi?T=finer/finer_tobacco.ht&s=41427236 http://tobacco.org/news/17877.html Japan Tobacco Inc. shares rose 12.6 percent on a report the nation's only tobacco company will seek to develop a genetically engineered high- yield rice crop, analysts said. . . The joint venture, capitalized at about 10 billion yen ($84.75 million), will develop a high-yield rice crop and other farm products, the report said. JT and Zeneca are seeking to compete with Monsanto Co. in the marketing of agricultural products in Asia, Nikkei said. Bloomberg News Thu, 18 Mar 1999 05:00:00 GMT http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/990317/bic.html http://tobacco.org/news/17849.html Business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported on Thursday that JT and British drugs and agrochemicals company Zeneca Group Plc would form a fifty-fifty Japanese joint venture by this summer for development and production of genetically altered farm products. Reuters Wed, 17 Mar 1999 05:00:00 GMT