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Canadian court arbitrator proposes $23.6 bln tobacco settlement by Philip Morris, BAT and JTI units

A Canadian courtappointed conciliator has actually proposed a C$ 32.5 billion ($ 23.6 billion) settlement by the systems of Philip Morris, British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco in the country to end a longrunning tobacco lawsuits, Philip Morris said on Friday.

Although essential concerns with the strategy stay to be dealt with, we are enthusiastic that this legal process will soon conclude, allowing RBH (Rothmans, Benson & & Hedges) and its stakeholders to concentrate on the future, Philip Morris CEO Jacek Olczak said in a statement.

Philip Morris said the allocation of the aggregate settlement quantity between the business in the procedures stayed unsettled.

The company stated that voting on the strategy would occur in December this year and if accepted by complaintants, a hearing to consider approval of the plan would then be anticipated in the initially half of next year.

Independently, British American Tobacco on Friday said that a. strategy had been submitted in a Canadian court to potentially solve. the lawsuits, without sharing the information that Philip Morris. did.

Quebec Superior Court in 2015 had ruled to award damages to. some 100,000 Quebec smokers and ex-smokers who declared the. business knew since the 1950s that their product was triggering. cancer and other diseases and stopped working to alert consumers. properly.

In 2019, a Quebec court upheld the 2015 choice that. awarded smokers in the Canadian province around C$ 15 billion.

(source: Reuters)