RJR Owes for Former Brands Under Landmark 1998 Tobacco Deal

RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co. owes Texas hundreds of millions of dollars for former brands under the 1998 tobacco settlement that resolved health claims between the states and cigarette makers.

The ruling Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap in Marshall, Texas, applied to four cigarette brands RJR sold to Imperial Tobacco Group Brands LLC in 2015 for more than $7 billion: Winston, Salem, Kool and Maverick. The state sued RJR, which still makes Camel and other brands, in 2019 for missed payments.

The landmark 1998 deal called for the tobacco companies to pay some $206 billion to states to compensate ...