s. Sweden claims that prohibition of snus sales isn't compatible with the principles of free movement of goods and argues for a uniform regulation of all tobacco products as "a number of similar, often-more-dangerous products are allowed to circulate freely in the internal market." Swedish snus, a moist powder tobacco used in Sweden and other Nordic countries for over 200 years, was banned within the EU in 1992. When Sweden entered the EU in 1995, the country was granted a permanent exemption from the ban, and the country is now fighting for the right to export its tobacco product to the rest of the EU. Sweden lost SEK30 billion ($4.82 billion) in snus export revenue from 1995 to 2009, a report published in January 2010 bditional rivals, including Progressive, Travelers Cos. (TRV), and Chubb Corp. (CB). Answer Financial has about 350,000 customers. The purchase price at closing will be $700 million plus the tangible book value of the two units when the deal is completed. Allstate said it expected to conclude the transaction by the fall, and to pay about $1 billion in total. The company will fund the deal entirely with cash. At 2 1/2 times tangible book value, Barclays Capital analyst Jay Gelb said the price seemed "rich," and wrote in a note to clients that the deal "raises the question why Allstate does not build its own direct channel." Allstate had been investing in its own online platform, but the acquisition of Esurance effectively doubles the company's share of the direct-channel market to about 4%. Allstate Chief Executive Tom Wilson said he expected the Esurance acquisition would be a springboard to grabbing a larger portion of the market. Allstate will keep the Esurance brand and increase its spending on advertising to drive more customers to its website. "It's a good way to get started," Wilson said on a conference call with analysts and investors Wednesday morning. "This is a great opportunity to take what they've built, ... put the imprimatur of Allstate on it, and attack the market competitively from two sides." Esurance was one of the first companies to sell car insurance online and still attracts an outsized share of younger male drivers. While Allstate recently launched a new advertising campaign featuring a character called "Mayhem" designed to appeal to a younger demographic, the company has been more successful at attracting customers who require more than just auto coverage and want to speak to an agent to discuss their insurance needs. Other insurers that have traditionally sold coverage through agents, including Travelers, have also been pushing forward with online initiatives. Travelers CEO Jay Fishman said in April the company is "still in the process of learning" about how to market and underwrite insurance online. Travelers is operating its online venture at a loss as it invests in the project. Wilson said the prospect of investing heavily in building out the online business helped justify the purchase price. "We could have built it ourselves," he said. "It would take longer. This is a billion-dollar platform...that we can ramp up pretty quickly." Allstate also expects to reap savings by substituting its o