The tobacco giant Altria MO,
said on Friday that it had exchanged its minority stake in embattled e-cigarette maker Juul for “a non-exclusive and irrevocable global license to certain JUUL heated tobacco intellectual property.” Altria CEO Billy Gifford said in a statement that “we believe that exchanging our ownership of Juul for intellectual property rights is the appropriate path for our business. Juul faces significant legal and regulatory challenges and uncertainties, many of which could exist for many years. We continue to explore all options for how we can best compete in the e-vapor category.” Altria said it estimated the value of its investment in Juul at $250 million. He said he would record the financial impact of Friday’s decision in the first quarter. Shares finished 0.2% higher during regular trading on Friday and rose 0.1% after hours.