NEW YORK – This week, Loews Corp. announced its intention of spinning off Lorillard Tobacco Co. cigarette subsidiary, the Associated Press reports. Lorillard makes Kent, Newport and True cigarette brands.

The Loews-Lorillard split is just one of several the tobacco industry has seen or will see recently. Come the end of January, Altria Group Inc., the parent of the largest U.S. cigarette-manufacturer, will announce when it will spin off its Philip Morris USA Inc. and Philip Morris International Inc., to create two separate publicly traded tobacco companies.

With U.S. smokers purchasing fewer cigarettes, largely because of smoking bans and higher taxes, tobacco companies are investigating such alternatives as chewing tobacco, cigars and snus (tea-bag like tobacco pouches that are placed between cheek and gum).

Last week, Philip Morris USA finalized its purchase of cigar-maker John Middleton Inc., in addition to test-marketing Marlboro-branded snus and Marlboro-branded chewing tobacco. Meanwhile, in 2006, Reynolds American Inc. purchased smokeless-tobacco company Conwood Co. and has had strong results from the Grizzly-brand moist-snuff.

Loews CEO James Tisch told analysts on Monday that the board went ahead with the divesture because of dividend growth from its other subsidiaries, as well as the development of a more benign U.S. litigation environment for tobacco companies.