Latest News by Industry
Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE: VGR) has completed the spin-off of Douglas Elliman Inc. (“Douglas Elliman”) into a standalone, publicly traded company. Douglas Elliman’s common stock will begin “regular way” trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) on December 30, 2021 under the symbol “DOUG” and Vector Group will continue to trade on the NYSE under the symbol “VGR”.
Vector Group will continue to operate its tobacco business, which includes the manufacturing and sale of cigarettes in the U.S. through its subsidiaries Liggett Group LLC and Vector Tobacco Inc., and will continue to own interests in numerous properties and real estate projects across the U.S. through New Valley LLC.
“Vector Group is well positioned to continue driving revenue growth and margin improvement by strengthening our tobacco brand portfolio and continuing to improve operating efficiency,” said Howard M. Lorber, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Vector Group. “This spin-off enables Vector Group to continue capitalizing on the attractive value proposition in the deep discount segment of the tobacco market and enhances our strategic flexibility as a standalone company.”
At 11:59 p.m. ET on December 29, 2021, Vector Group distributed all of the outstanding shares of Douglas Elliman common stock to Vector Group’s common stockholders. Each Vector Group common stockholder (including Vector Group common stock underlying outstanding Vector Group stock option awards and restricted stock awards) received one share of Douglas Elliman common stock for every two shares of Vector Group common stock held as of the close of business on December 20, 2021, the recorddate.
The receipt of Douglas Elliman common stock in the distribution is tax-free to Vector Group stockholdersfor United States federal income tax purposes (other than Vector Group common stock underlying outstanding Vector Group stock option awards and restricted stock awards). Vector Group encourages stockholders to consult with their tax advisors withrespect to United States federal, state, local and foreign tax consequences of the spin-off.
Jefferies LLC servedas financial advisor to Vector Group and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP served as legal counsel to Vector Group and Douglas Elliman.