Eleven years ago, tobacco giant Altria (NYSE: MO) finished spinning off its international business as Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM). The split let Altria focus on tackling litigation and declining sales in America, and allowed PMI to expand more aggressively in overseas markets with higher smoking rates.
But smoking rates fell worldwide over the past decade, forcing both companies to repeatedly raise prices and cut costs to stay profitable. Regulators exacerbated the pain by tightening regulations on tobacco and e-cigarettes.
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