(FILES) This file photo taken on August 21, 2018 shows the research and development campus of cigarette and tobacco manufacturing company Philip Morris International, in Neuchatel, western Switzerland. - Tobacco firms Philip Morris International and the US firm Altria Group are considering a potential merger, Philip Morris announced on August 27, 2019. The company said the talks on an all-stock merger of equals were at early stages and that there could be "no assurance" that any agreement or final transaction would occur.The tie-up would reconnect the companies. Altria spun off Philip Morris International in 2008, and still owns Philip Morris USA. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)