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Reynolds American, Inc. Closer To Completing Acquisition By British American Tobacco

The Reynolds American, Inc. building in Downtown Winston-Salem. (Sean Bueter/WFDD)

In a statement, Reynolds announced that it has cleared the second of two antitrust hurdles needed to complete its sale to British American Tobacco.

The first was a federal waiting period that expired in March. Now, Japanese regulators have given the green light, too.

BAT needed that approval because Japan Tobacco owns the international rights to the Natural American Spirit cigarette brand.

Reynolds now says it expects to close its $49 billion deal with British American this summer, if everything else goes according to plan.

The Winston-Salem-based tobacco company announced the acquisition back in January.

British American has said it has no plans to move Reynolds North Carolina facilities or make significant changes to its workforce.

Sean Bueter joined WFDD in August 2015 as a reporter covering issues across the Piedmont Triad and beyond.Previously, Sean was a reporter, host and news director at WBOI in Fort Wayne, Ind., just a few hours from where he grew up. He also sorted Steve Inskeep's mail as an intern at NPR in Washington, D.C.Sean has experience on a variety of beats, including race, wealth and poverty, economic development, and more. His work has appeared on NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered, and APM's Marketplace.In his spare time, Sean plays tennis (reasonably well), golf (reasonably poorly), and scours local haunts for pinball machines to conquer.

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