Loews to Spin Off Lorillard, Newport Cigarette Maker..

December 17, 2007 - Loews to Spin Off Lorillard, Newport Cigarette Maker.. Loews expects the tobacco spinoff to be complete by the middle of next year, and said Greensboro, North Carolina-based Lorillard will likely list on the New York Stock Exchange. "Lorillard would be a smaller, but valuable opportunity to get some brands and share in a highly profitable market" for a potential buyer, said Bruce Davidson, an analyst at Blue Oar Securities in London. Newport is the best-selling menthol cigarette in the U.S., according to Loews, and the nation's No. 2 cigarette brand behind Altria's Marlboro. Founded in New York City in 1760 by Pierre Lorillard, the unit is the oldest continuously running cigarette maker in the U.S. as well as being the country's third-largest tobacco company, Loews said. Lorillard also sells cigarettes under the brands True, Maverick and Old Gold. (Bloomberg.com, 12/17/2007) On October 25, 2006 Lorillard announced that it has entered into an agreement with Swedish Match North America to jointly develop and market a select line of smokeless tobacco products in the United States. (TobaccoWatch.org) Lorillard will soon begin test marketing its own snus, under the brand Triumph, Loews executives said Monday (12/17/2007). The Triumph test product is part of a joint venture formed in October 2006 with Swedish Match North America Inc. to develop smokeless tobacco products. ( Loews to Spin Off Lorillard Tobacco by Vinnee Tong, Assoc. Press) Swedish Match is making the product in Sweden and Lorillard is distributing it. (Philip Morris Revises Smokeless Tobacco Market Tests by JOHN REID BLACKWELL/ Richmond Times-Dispatch, 1/11/2008)