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Altria Group Inc said on Friday it may hold off on closing its $10.4 billion purchase of UST Inc until early January because its lenders advised that it would be better to close the deal in 2009.
The lenders' request highlights how tight the credit market has become amid the current financial crisis.
Altria said it has fully committed financing to complete the transaction. JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs previously committed to provide up to $7 billion in bridge loan financing for the deal.
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Altria Group Inc. and smokeless-tobacco maker UST Inc. said Friday they agreed to raise the termination fee for UST's pending acquisition to $300 million from $200 million, under certain circumstances. . . .
The companies also extended, at Altria's option, the closing date of the deal to no later than early January 2009 in the event that conditions for closing are met before the end of 2008.
Altria said its lenders advised that it would be better to close the deal in 2009.
Altria Group Inc. said it may put off completing its planned $10.3 billion acquisition of UST Inc. until early next year on the recommendation of its lenders.
Altria, which owns cigarette maker Philip Morris USA Inc., didn't elaborate on the reason for the extension, and company officials weren't immediately available to comment.
"While Altria currently has fully committed financing to complete the transaction, Altria's lenders advised that it would be preferable to close the transaction in 2009," Altria said in a brief statement.
Smokeless tobacco products are not for sale to minors.
We say it. We print it. We mean it.
It has and always will be our policy that our products are for adults, and adults only. As a responsible corporate citizen, the company is dedicated to addressing concerns about youth usage of smokeless tobacco products. U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company has taken an active stance, on our own, and in cooperation with retailers, consumers and other responsible adults to discourage sales of our products to minors.
Altria has been looking hard for ways to get consumers to use tobacco without having to smoke it, and as a market leader in smokeless products, UST's attraction should be expected. The reason is simple: Altria is in the tobacco business, and Americans are smoking less.
Expanding its presence in the smokeless part of the market has become more urgent for Philip Morris USA after its parent spun off its bigger-earning overseas counterpart, Philip Morris International, in March.
American smokers are buying fewer cigarettes as smoking bans and health concerns dampen demand by 3% to 4% a year.
Swedish Match, the last independent smokeless tobacco group, may attract a bid from a cigarette maker after Altria's bid for UST is set to make the United States snuff market more competitive.
While cigarette smoking in the mature markets of western Europe and the United States is declining, snuff consumption is rising in the U.S. driven by the perception it is not as harmful as cigarettes, prompting two takeovers in the last two years. . . .
With the two biggest snuff makers in the U.S. market being bought by big tobacco groups, the third -- Swedish Match -- may be next. Some analysts tip the third-largest U.S. cigarette maker Lorillard Inc, which unlike some potential buyers already has a large distribution network in the country, as a front-runner.
"I think that Lorillard could want to buy Swedish Match.
The fate of 350 UST Inc. employees in Stamford is unclear now that Altria Group Inc., owner of Philip Morris USA, has announced it will buy the company for $10.3 billion.
Altria spokesman David Sylvia said Altria plans to come up with $250 million in annual savings by 2011, but would not comment on the fate of any of UST's 4,600 employees. The company's headquarters is at 6 High Ridge Park in Stamford.
Altria Group Inc. (MO) will continue to test smokeless tobacco products under the Marlboro brand name after its acquisition of UST Inc. (UST), company executives said during a conference call Monday.
Altria has recently been testing smokeless tobacco products like Marlboro snus in an effort to tap the value of its well-known cigarette brand in the smokeless market.
Altria's goal is to push UST's premium smokeless brands like Copenhagen and Skoal to achieve modest share growth after the acquisition, the company said. UST premium brands have been losing market share to cheaper offerings.
Remember Geoff Bible, the swashbuckling Aussie who led Philip Morris until 2002? I ran into him at the U.S. Open just as rumors were flying that Altria (MO), as the the tobacco giant is now known, was about to buy UST.
Now Altria has announced its $10.3 billion deal to acquire UST, the smokeless tobacco leader that markets Copenhagen and Skoal. And Bible, who is still an Altria shareholder, offers his take: "In principle, UST is a savvy deal, especially given the slowing U.S. cigarette market. I'm too removed from the businesses these days to talk about price, but they are clever managers. They do not do dumb things, do their homework thoroughly, and have a great balance sheet. They ought be able to wring out very good revenue and overhead synergies."
Actually, the U.S. cigarette business is more than slow. It's declining-at an accelerating rate, say analysts. Actually, the U.S. cigarette business is more than slow. It's declining-at an accelerating rate, say analysts. Perhaps this is because diehards are kicking the habit? Newsflash: Bible, for one, finally quit. . . .
"I'm old," Bible told me, suggesting that it's time. He's 71, still feisty, and he appears quite fit.
Observers say Lorillard, which was spun off from Loews Corp. in June, could be next on the list of potential targets.
"It's going to put pressure on everybody else to consolidate," said Sachin Shah, an analyst with iCap Equities. Shah said tobacco leaf producer Universal Corp. and Vector Group Ltd. could also be potential targets.
Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) has played second fiddle to tobacco giant Altria Group Inc. (MO) for years, and its battles with its larger competitor may soon get tougher.
Reynolds American, which sells Camel cigarettes and Grizzly smokeless tobacco through its subsidiaries, is expected to face more competition after Altria buys smokeless tobacco maker UST Inc. (UST). Altria is expected to use its marketing ability and resources to boost growth for UST's smokeless tobacco brands like Copenhagen and Skoal.
On Tuesday, just a day after Altria announced the deal, Reynolds American unveiled plans to cut roughly 8% of its total work force and change its strategy on some key brands. The added competition from Altria may also push Reynolds to buy rival cigarette maker Lorillard Inc. (LO), some analysts say.
"We see Reynolds American now facing a more formidable competitor in the total tobacco industry and a potential for heightened competition in the smokeless tobacco category," Goldman Sachs analyst Judy Hong wrote
With Americans smoking less, the nation's top cigarette maker is planning to go smokeless in a big way.
In a move long-anticipated by industry observers, Altria Group Inc., parent company of Marlboro-maker Philip Morris USA, said yesterday it has agreed to pay $10.4 billion to acquire Stamford, Conn.-based UST Inc., the top manufacturer of moist smokeless tobacco.
The deal, if approved by UST shareholders and federal regulators, will add a growing category of tobacco products to Henrico County-based Altria's portfolio as the company faces a slowly eroding U.S. cigarette market.
"The acquisition will give Altria immediate national scale in the highly profitable [moist smokeless tobacco] category," said Michael E. Szymanczyk, Altria's chairman and chief executive officer, in a conference call with analysts yesterday.
Thomas Russo, who manages more than $3 billion at Gardner Russo & Gardner, talks with Bloomberg's Rhonda Schaffler from New York about Altria Group Inc.'s agreement to buy UST Inc. for $10.3 billion and the outlook for consolidation in the tobacco industry.
Altria Group Inc. agreed to buy UST Inc. for $10.3 billion to combine Copenhagen and Skoal snuff with its Marlboro cigarettes and vault ahead of Reynolds American Inc. as the biggest seller of smokeless tobacco.
The purchase values Stamford, Connecticut-based UST at $69.50 a share, 29 percent more than its price before the New York Times reported Sept. 4 that Altria would bid for the maker of Skoal.
The combination boosts Altria from ``virtually no position'' in the $3.7 billion snuff market, the fastest- growing segment of the tobacco industry, Chief Executive Officer Michael Szymanczyk told analysts today. It may alleviate investor concerns that Altria was too focused on U.S. cigarette sales, which the company expects to shrink by 3.5 percent this year, and counter falling demand for Marlboros.
The combination boosts Altria from ``virtually no position'' in the $3.7 billion snuff market, the fastest-growing segment of the tobacco industry, Chief Executive Officer Michael Szymanczyk told analysts today. It may alleviate investor concerns that Altria was too focused on U.S. cigarette sales, which the company expects to shrink by 3.5 percent this year, and counter falling demand for Marlboros.
``Altria is buying two tremendous brands in Skoal and Copenhagen, which it can drop quite profitably into its own distribution network,''