Juul Scores $325M

According to the New York Post, E-cigarette maker Juul Labs has raised $325 million in an equity and debt offering to speed up its global expansion as US lawmakers seek to crack down on the vaping company, which has proven popular with teens.

Juul – 35% owned by Marlboro maker Altria Group Inc. – has been refocusing its efforts on growing outside the US as regulators and lawmakers here increase oversight of vaping.

On Tuesday, New York City Councilman Mark Levine, parents and other anti-smoking advocates will rally in front of Juul's offices in downtown Manhattan to promote plans by city legislators to outlaw flavored tobacco products, which they say hook kids.

The company did not break out the ratio of equity and debt offered, but a source familiar with the matter told Reuters that Juul sold convertible debt in a bridge financing to bolster its balance sheet.

The company launched its products in South Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia at around the same time the city of San Francisco, where Juul is headquartered, approved an ordinance to ban the sale and distribution of e-cigarettes until manufacturers get approval from the US Food and Drug Administration.

In July, a US federal court ordered e-cigarette companies to submit applications to the FDA within 10 months to remain in the market, instead of in 2022.

The latest funding round comes a year after Juul, which launched its products in 2015, raised about $1.25 billion to fund its explosive growth. Last December, it received about $12.5 billion from Altria for a stake in the company.

According to the CDC's National Youth Tobacco Survey, e-cigarette use among high school students increased by 78 percent between 2017 and 2018.