Philip Morris Companies Inc. Announces Closing of SABMiller plc Transaction.Business Editors Philip Morris Companies Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :MO) announced today that the transaction announced on May 30, 2002, to merge Miller Brewing Company Miller Brewing Company is the second largest American beermaker and is based in Milwaukee. It is owned by SABMiller. Miller owns breweries in Albany, Georgia; Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin; Eden, North Carolina; Fort Worth, Texas; Irwindale, California; Milwaukee, Wisconsin and into South African Breweries South African Breweries was founded in 1895 by Jacob Letterstedt specifically to serve a new market of miners and prospectors in and around Johannesburg. Two years later, it became the first industrial company to list on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). plc, forming the world's second-largest brewer, SABMiller plc, has closed. Philip Morris Companies Inc. received 430,000,000 shares in SABMiller plc valued at $3.38 billion, based on the July 8 closing price, representing a 36% economic interest and a 24.9% voting interest Voting interest in business and accounting is a percentage of voting stock owned. This notion is different from economic interest that refers to a percentage of all the equity issued, including preferred stock, warrants, and so on. in the enlarged group, without giving effect to the contemplated equity placing by SABMiller plc. In addition, as previously announced, the assumption of $2 billion of Miller Brewing Company's debt by SABMiller plc will result in cash flow of approximately $1.7 billion for Philip Morris Companies Inc., which will be used to accelerate its share repurchase Share Repurchase A program by which a company buys back its own shares from the marketplace, reducing the number of outstanding shares. This is usually an indication that the company's management thinks the shares are undervalued. program in 2002. The company has said previously that it expects to repurchase a total of approximately $6.0 billion of its shares for the full-year 2002. The Philip Morris family of companies, including Kraft Foods Inc. (Kraft), is the world's largest producer and marketer of consumer packaged goods. Philip Morris Companies Inc. recorded 2001 underlying net revenues of approximately $81 billion and owns 83.9% of the outstanding common shares of Kraft and is the largest shareholder, with an approximately 36% economic interest, in SABMiller plc. The Philip Morris family of companies also includes Philip Morris Incorporated (PM USA), Philip Morris International Philip Morris International, (PMI) based in Lausanne, Switzerland, held a 15.5% share of the international cigarette market in 2005. Its brands, led by Marlboro and L&M, are sold in over 160 countries around the world. Inc. and Philip Morris Capital Corporation. You may learn more about the Philip Morris family of companies at www.philipmorris.com. |
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