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British American Tobacco Expands in South Africa With Vape Deal

British American Tobacco Expands in South Africa With Vape Deal

(Bloomberg) -- British American Tobacco Plc, the world’s second-largest traded cigarette maker, agreed to buy South African vaping company Twisp, expanding in a continent where it has grown in since buying Rothmans in 1999.

The deal increases BAT’s offering of so-called next-generation products, or alternatives to smoking cigarettes, the London-based company said in a statement Thursday. It didn’t disclose the price of the deal or how it’s being funded.

The deal comes after Japan Tobacco Inc. also agreed to spend $434 million to raise its investment in Ethiopia’s tobacco monopoly to a majority stake. BAT appointed Kingsley Wheaton, formerly the head of next-generation products, to lead the Americas and sub-Saharan Africa region last month.

BAT shares rose 2.2 percent to 5,027 pence as of 3:21 p.m. in London, extending gains for 2017 to 8.7 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Loni Prinsloo in Johannesburg at lprinsloo3@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, Thomas Mulier, John Bowker

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