Is Altria $MO acquiring NJOY a good deal? Good for who? If the deal closes, Jason Mudrick probably won’t be too unhappy. His hedge fund, Mudrick Capital Management, took over NJOY after the company was successfully restructured in 2017 following its declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy the year prior. With the restructuring, NJOY, Inc. became NJOY, LLC. Since then, the company has developed new products and has captured a sliver of the U.S. market.

Oh, of course! Of course, Altria would want to buy a previously bankrupted brand that currently holds a tiny share of the U.S. e-vapor market. It can sit on the mantle next to JUUL!

Joking aside, it comes as no surprise that people are comparing the deal to JUUL. There are clear similarities. However, it’s also radically different.

Let’s dive in.