Liggett Group Inc

Ratcheting up the pressure on Big Tobacco, the Justice Department announced Tuesday that renegade cigarette maker Liggett Group Inc. has agreed to assist its long-running criminal investigation of the tobacco industry. In a terse written statement, Justice officials said that, under the cooperation agreement, which does not include a promise of immunity, Liggett will furnish "truthful, complete and accurate information" about alleged industry wrongdoing.

Bennett S. LeBow, chief executive of Liggett Group parent Vector Group Ltd., testified Monday that his company broke with the rest of the tobacco industry to settle state lawsuits in 1996 because it was the "right thing" to do.

Liggett Group Inc. lost a bid to force insurance companies to defend it from tobacco-related litigation, as the company faces mounting legal fees and millions of dollars in pending jury awards. President Judge Henry DuPont Ridgely of the Delaware Superior Court found in favor of the insurance companies on nine summary judgment motions in lawsuits that covered policies held from 1970 to 2000, according to court documents.

A federal appeals court in Boston, rejecting a tobacco firm's claim of confidentiality, ruled that a public interest group can obtain a consultant's research documents on smoking and health. The Washington-based Public Citizen group, which sought the documents prepared for tobacco giant Liggett Group Inc., termed the decision "vital in terms of tearing down the wall of secrecy" in product liability cases. The U.S.

Vector Group Ltd., a holding company that indirectly owns discount cigarette maker Liggett Group Inc., said Carl Icahn plans to buy about 1.64 million of its common shares for about $50 million, giving the billionaire financier about 13% of the tobacco company's outstanding shares. Miami-based Vector said it entered an agreement in which High River, owned by Icahn, will buy the shares at $30.50 apiece. Shares of Vector rose $1.50 to close at $33.60 on the NYSE.

Grand Metropolitan PLC., a hotels, drinks and leisure group, said Wednesday that it is negotiating to sell Liggett Group Inc., its U.S. cigarette business. "The negotiations are unlikely to be concluded for several weeks, and a further announcement will be made then," the company said. Grand Metropolitan, however, did not say with whom it was negotiating. Liggett, a subsidiary of Grandmet USA Inc., is based in Montvale, N.J. A spokeswoman for the company's Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co.

Judges in three states rejected the request of tobacco industry lawyers that Liggett Group Inc. be prevented from turning over for judicial review documents containing potentially explosive information. A federal judge in Texarkana, Texas, and state court judges in Chicago and Laurel, Miss., all issued restraining orders directing the four other U.S. tobacco companies--Philip Morris Inc., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Lorillard Inc. and BAT Industries' Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp.

A Kansas state court judge refused to allow the immediate release of more than 2,418 internal tobacco industry documents that cigarette companies are strenuously battling to keep secret, rebuffing a request from plaintiff's lawyers. Circuit Court Judge Fred Jackson granted the industry a stay, pending appeal, even though he rejected arguments by cigarette company lawyers that he reverse an earlier ruling that they must relinquish the documents.

Liggett Group Inc. lost a bid to force insurance companies to defend it from tobacco-related litigation, as the company faces mounting legal fees and millions of dollars in pending jury awards. President Judge Henry DuPont Ridgely of the Delaware Superior Court found in favor of the insurance companies on nine summary judgment motions in lawsuits that covered policies held from 1970 to 2000, according to court documents.

Vector Group Ltd., a holding company that indirectly owns discount cigarette maker Liggett Group Inc., said Carl Icahn plans to buy about 1.64 million of its common shares for about $50 million, giving the billionaire financier about 13% of the tobacco company's outstanding shares. Miami-based Vector said it entered an agreement in which High River, owned by Icahn, will buy the shares at $30.50 apiece. Shares of Vector rose $1.50 to close at $33.60 on the NYSE.

Philip Morris Cos. said it will drop Liggett Group Inc.'s special warning that smoking is addictive from the packaging on three cigarette brands it has purchased from the rival tobacco company. "Warning: Smoking is addictive" now appears on all Liggett's U.S. brands in addition to the standard Surgeon General's warning that is carried on all cigarettes sold in the U.S. Liggett, the tobacco unit of financier Bennett LeBow's Brooke Group Inc.

Of all the accusations being hurled at tobacco companies, none is more damning than the charge that they colluded to squelch development of "safer" cigarettes, fixating on avoiding legal liability rather than customers' welfare. Cigarette makers have hotly denied the claim. But the line of attack could get a significant boost from new evidence on the demise of a supposedly safer smoke that struggling Liggett Group Inc.

Ratcheting up the pressure on Big Tobacco, the Justice Department announced Tuesday that renegade cigarette maker Liggett Group Inc. has agreed to assist its long-running criminal investigation of the tobacco industry. In a terse written statement, Justice officials said that, under the cooperation agreement, which does not include a promise of immunity, Liggett will furnish "truthful, complete and accurate information" about alleged industry wrongdoing.

Brooke Group Ltd.'s Liggett tobacco unit settled a lawsuit by Georgia that sought reimbursement of more than $1 million for treating sick smokers, bringing the company's total settlements with states to 41. Liggett agreed to pay Georgia $1 million over nine years, place up to 30% of its pretax income for the next 25 years into a settlement fund and testify on behalf of states suing other tobacco companies. The agreement is similar to one the company reached with 14 states two weeks ago.

The Justice Department is conducting a preliminary investigation into possible antitrust violations in the leaf tobacco industry, a government spokesman said Friday. Government lawyers are "looking into possible anti-competitive practices involving leaf tobacco," said Justice Department spokesman Bill Brooks.

Philip Morris Cos. said it will drop Liggett Group Inc.'s special warning that smoking is addictive from the packaging on three cigarette brands it has purchased from the rival tobacco company. "Warning: Smoking is addictive" now appears on all Liggett's U.S. brands in addition to the standard Surgeon General's warning that is carried on all cigarettes sold in the U.S. Liggett, the tobacco unit of financier Bennett LeBow's Brooke Group Inc.

A Kansas state court judge refused to allow the immediate release of more than 2,418 internal tobacco industry documents that cigarette companies are strenuously battling to keep secret, rebuffing a request from plaintiff's lawyers. Circuit Court Judge Fred Jackson granted the industry a stay, pending appeal, even though he rejected arguments by cigarette company lawyers that he reverse an earlier ruling that they must relinquish the documents.

In another important legal setback for the tobacco industry, a Kansas judge on Wednesday denied the companies' bid to keep secret 2,500 internal documents that have been the subject of fierce litigation around the country. The ruling by Shawnee County District Judge Fred S. Jackson further ratchets up the pressure on an embattled industry that, its critics claim, hid the dangers and health effects of smoking from the American public for several decades.