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Lorillard, the third largest tobacco company in the U.S., was the first of the big three to jump in on the electronic cigarette industry. Seemingly before Philip Morris or R.J. Reynolds had even given the industry a second look, Lorillard purchase Blu — and electronic cigarette company that was among the top two for market position at the time. That was April of 2012.

Now it looks like the company is digging in even deeper and stretching even further with its latest move. Lorillard just acquired U.K.-based electronic cigarette company SKYCIG for 30 million pounds (about $49 million US) upfront plus another 30 million pounds if the company meets certain financial goals. SKYCIG is one of the leading e-cig companies in Britain right now and its brand and logo are not very far off from that of Blu.

The deal looks like it could be a smart one for several reasons. According to reports, Lorillard is leaving the current leadership at SKYCIG in tacked. That means that hitting the financial goals necessary to get the extra 30 million pounds is all the more important to the people running the place.

But perhaps more important is that Lorillard just bought itself a seat at the regulatory table in Britain where plans are currently set to qualify and regulate electronic cigarettes as medicine come 2016. According to Wells Fargo analyst Bonnie Herzog, “We believe this acquisition gives [Lorillard] a seat at the table to help shape U.K. (and EU) tobacco and e-cig regulation, given its e-cig expertise.”

The purchase of Blu by Lorillard was largely praised by analysts and experts — and has so far proven a benefit to Lorillard’s bottom line. We’ll see if SKYCIg can do the same.