Altria intends tot sell portion of investment in AB InBev

Altria Group (MO) announced its intent to sell a portion of its investment in Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) through a global secondary offering 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.