Reynolds Cleared to Buy Lorillard With Sale of Four Brands

Reynolds American Inc.’s $27.4 billion purchase of Lorillard Inc. won approval from U.S. antitrust officials on the condition that the companies sell four brands, leaving a market where two manufacturers produce about nine out of every 10 cigarettes sold in the country.

Reynolds, the maker of Camel and Pall Mall cigarettes, was cleared to buy its rival after the Federal Trade Commission accepted its proposal to sell Winston, Kool, Salem and Maverick to Imperial Tobacco Group Plc, a British company that is expanding in the U.S.