DEALTALK-Antitrust regulators face clashing missions in U.S. cigarette deal
October 29, 2014 at 17:06 PM EDT
WASHINGTON, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Cigarette maker Reynolds American's proposal to buy smaller rival Lorillard Inc presents antitrust regulators with a conundrum: Their mandate is to prevent higher prices because of mergers, but U.S. public policy aims to make cigarettes more expensive to discourage smoking.