[Intl-tobacco] JT, Korea Tobacco in joint development pact

[Robert Weissman]

JT, Korea Tobacco in joint development pact
Source: Reuters, Thursday, 11/9/00

 TOKYO, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Japan Tobacco Inc (JT) , the world's
third-largest
tobacco group, announced on Friday it had agreed to jointly develop a
new
product with Korea Tobacco & Ginseng Co of South Korea

Under the alliance, aimed at appealing particularly to Asian tobacco
consumers'
tastes, the two firms plan to share their expertise to launch the new
cigarettes under a common brand name from early 2002, JT said.

Production and marketing of the new product will be carried out
independently
by JT in Japan and Korea Tobacco in South Korea. A JT spokesman said the
firms
have not decided whether and when to sell the new product elsewhere in
Asia,
and that it was too early to give any sales estimates.

JT, a former state monopoly, controls around 75 percent of Japan's
tobacco
market -- the world's third-largest after China and the United States --
and
has a powerful presence in Asia with its flagship Mild Seven cigarettes.

Last year, it purchased the international business of RJR Nabisco
Holdings
Corp, known for its Camel and Winston brands.

The $7.8 billion takeover -- the largest ever by a Japanese corporation
-- made
it the world's third-largest tobacco group behind Philip Morris (NYSE:MO
-
news) of the United States and UK-based British American Tobacco Plc
(quote
from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: BATS.L) (BAT).

Shares in JT, widely viewed as a core defensive stock in Japan, were up
4.06
percent at 743,000 yen as of 0226 GMT.