Bulletin: Altria Group Inc.'s Plans To Sell About 20% Of Anheuser-Busch Stake Does Not Alter Our View Of Its Credit Quality

CHICAGO (S&P Global Ratings) March 13, 2024--S&P Global Ratings said today that Altria Group Inc.'s (BBB/Positive/A-2) intention to use the net cash proceeds from the sale of over $2 billion of its $12 billion investment in Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (ABI) to repurchase stock, does not alter our view of Altria's credit quality. While we continue to recognize the potential flexibility this large investment provides to Altria, our ratings do not incorporate the assumption that Altria will use the net cash proceeds from monetizing all or a portion of the ABI stake for debt repayment. As a result, there continues to be no direct ratings uplift from the ABI investment, other than the modest amount of dividends received. We continue to

...March 13, 2024 CHICAGO (S&P Global Ratings) March 13, 2024--S&P Global Ratings said today that Altria Group Inc.'s (###/Positive/A-2) intention to use the net cash proceeds from the sale of over $2 billion of its $12 billion investment in Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (ABI) to repurchase stock, does not alter our view of Altria's credit quality. While we continue to recognize the potential flexibility this large investment provides to Altria, our ratings do not incorporate the assumption that Altria will use the net cash proceeds from monetizing all or a portion of the ABI stake for debt repayment. As a result, there continues to be no direct ratings uplift from the ABI investment, other than the modest amount of dividends received. We continue to view the ABI stake, which remains a valuable asset, as a nonstrategic, financial investment that could be monetized for several purposes, including more stock repurchases or investments in the business. Notwithstanding the liquidation of close to...

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