P.M. BRIEFING : Liggett Tobacco Firm Plans to Restructure and Diversify

Following a trend in the tobacco industry, Liggett Group Inc. said today it will restructure its operations with an eye toward diversification in an apparent bid to boost its lagging earnings.

Liggett, which like its competitors has had to deal with bad publicity, also said it plans to change its name to Brooke Group Ltd.

Under the restructuring, Liggett will be split into two subsidiaries--Liggett & Myers Tobacco, to be renamed Liggett Group, and Impel Marketing Inc. Liggett is the nation’s sixth-biggest cigarette maker, whose brands include L&M; and Chesterfield.

Liggett also said that Bennett LeBow, who led a group of private investors that bought the company in 1986, has been elected chairman to succeed William Weksel, whose resignation was announced Wednesday.

In another change at the top, the company said that K. V. R. Dey Jr. will retire as president and chief executive effective June 30.