Blu e-cigarette deal was crucial to Lorillard takeover -source

By Jilian Mincer, Anjali Athavaley and Anjuli Davies NEW YORK/LONDON, July 15 (Reuters) - Reynolds American Inc had no choice but to sell Lorillard Inc's top-selling blu electronic cigarettes brand after Britain's Imperial Tobacco Group Plc insisted it be part of a wider portfolio of assets it is buying, a source familiar with the transaction said. The U.S. companies said on Tuesday that they were selling blu and a group of traditional cigarette brands to Imperial to ease antitrust co