Texas settles with tobacco companies

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a settlement agreement with major tobacco companies that will result in $195 million paid to Texas.

The lawsuit arose out of the 1998 Texas Tobacco Settlement Agreement, by which major tobacco companies must make annual payments to Texas to reimburse it for smoking-related health care costs. In 2015, ITG Brands LLC acquired four cigarette brands from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company – Kool, Maverick, Salem, and Winston – but neither company made the required settlement payments related to those brands after the sale. Because of the agreement, ITG Brands has assumed the financial obligations for these brands, agreed to pay $195 million now in back payments owed, and committed to make payments to the state of Texas going forward.