WASHINGTON (Reuters] – A U.S. Federal Trade Commission judge has dismissed a lawsuit that was filed by an agency to force Marlboro manufacturers to comply with its requirements. Altria Group Altria released Tuesday’s press release stating that it will sell its minority stake in Juul Labs Inc.

In April 2020, the FTC sued Altria, claiming that Altria’s December 2018 announcement to purchase a 35% share in Juul was detrimental to competition. FTC stated that both companies competed in closed-system vaping, but Altria chose to invest in Juul instead.

FTC can review the judge’s decisions.

Murray Garnick was Altria’s executive vice president and stated that the company is “pleased” with the decision. He also said, “We have always maintained that our minority investments in JUUL do not harm competition or violate antitrust laws.”

FTC did not comment.

Altria’s investment in Juul was $12.8 million when it bought the stake more than three years back. However, the deal was a constant headache for the tobacco company as Juul had to be regulated because of its popularity with teenagers.

Altria, which has written down over 85% of the original Juul investment, now values Juul at $1.7 Billion, according to last month’s regulatory filing.