Factors Affecting Diversification Strategy Choice for International Tobacco Companies on Emerging and Developed Host Markets: the Case of British American Tobacco, Japan Tobacco International and Philip Morris International Launching E-cigarette Category in Russia and Italy

International companies are continuously searching for new growth opportunities. It can be obtained through several business growth strategies: market penetration, product development, market development and diversification strategies. Diversification strategy is considered to be the riskiest business growth strategies as it suggests entering a new market and providing a new product. There are two types of diversification strategies depending on the relatedness of a new product to the core business: related and unrelated. It was observed that international tobacco companies use related diversification strategy on emerging and developed host markets. There is a wide range of factors affecting diversification strategy choice of international tobacco companies on emerging and developed host markets. These factors are base industry characteristics, target industry attractiveness, financial indicators decrease, the ability to fully use intangible assets, existing distribution channels, economies of scale opportunities and R&D expenditures. The method of the research is a case study: BAT, JTI, PMI launching e-cigarette category in Russia and Italy.