Philip Morris International to buy Protabaco

Philip Morris International Inc., seller of Marlboro cigarettes overseas, said it would pay $452 million to buy privately owned Protabaco, Colombian cigarette maker. Protabaco's brands include Mustang, Premier & President. Philip Morris International is the world's largest nongov't. cigarette maker after China's state-controlled China National Tobacco Corp. Earlier this month, Philip Morris said it would buy Swedish Match South Africa Ltd.'s pipe tobacco and snuff business for $222M. Philip Morris International & Swedish Match are already partners in a joint venture to sell Swedish Snus and other smokeless tobacco products in markets outside the U.S. & Scandinavia. The deal between the two allows them to license the Marlboro brand for use on smokeless products. Philip Morris Int'l. was spun off last year from Richmond, VA-base Altria Group, seller of Marlboros in the U.S. Philip Morris Int'l. shares rose 31