RICHMOND, Va. — Altria Group Inc. on Wednesday announced its intent to sell a portion of its investment in Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NA through a global secondary offering.
The offering would be comprised of a public offering of ABI ordinary shares ,represented by American depositary shares in the United States, a public offering of ABI ordinary shares in the United States, a concurrent private placement of ABI ordinary shares in the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom, and an offering of ABI ordinary shares, including ABI ordinary shares represented by ADSs, in other countries outside the United States.
In addition, ABI has agreed to repurchase $200 million of ordinary shares directly from Altria, concurrently with, and conditional on, completion of the offering.
Altria currently holds approximately 197 million shares of ABI, representing approximately 10% ownership. Altria, as the selling shareholder, is offering 35 million of ABI’s ordinary shares. In connection with the offering, Altria expects to grant the underwriters an option to purchase up to 5.25 million additional ABI shares owned by Altria, exercisable within 30 days following the pricing of the offering. In addition, Altria has agreed to a 180-day lockup with the lead underwriter for our remaining ABI shares.
Altria expect to use the proceeds for additional share repurchases of the company's common stock. Future share repurchases remain subject to the discretion of the Altria board of directors.
“As good stewards of shareholder capital, we consistently review options to unlock the value of our ABI investment, and we believe this is an opportunistic transaction that realizes a portion of the substantial return on our long-term investment,” said Billy Gifford, Altria chief executive officer. “Over the decades of our ownership, the beer investment has provided significant income and cash returns and supported our strong balance sheet. Our continued investment reflects ongoing confidence in ABI’s long-term strategies, premium global brands and experienced management team.”
The offering and the partial sale of the investment in ABI have been approved by the Altria board.
