USA: AB InBev stock falls as Altria announces plans to sell shares in Bud Light maker

American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) of Anheuser-Busch InBev slumped more than 5% on March 14 after Altria slashed part of its 10% stake in the beer maker at a discounted price, MSN reported.

Altria announced that it would be selling 35 million of its 195 million AB InBev shares - AB InBev shares traded on the Euronext exchange - through a global secondary offering. The tobacco giant explained that the sale would be composed of public offerings of ADRs and AB InBev ordinary shares in the U.S., as well as a concurrent private placement of ABI ordinary shares in the European Economic Area and the U.K. In addition, ABI ordinary shares, including those represented by ADRs, would be offered in countries outside the U.S. Altria plans to allow the underwriters to purchase an additional 5.25 million AB InBev shares within 30 days of the offering.

AB InBev explained the shares would be priced at EUR56.17 ($61.26) per ordinary share, and $61.50 per ADR. That would be about 5% below Wednesday, March 13th's closing price in the U.S. of $64.55. The beer maker added that it plans to buy 3.34 million ordinary shares for $200 million.

The move would raise about $2.2 billion for Altria. The company noted that it expects to use the cash generated to buy back its own shares. CEO Billy Gifford said Altria believes “this is an opportunistic transaction that realizes a portion of the substantial return on our long-term investment.”
A year ago, AB InBev shares plunged after a boycott of its Bud Light brand sparked by the company's work with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Soon thereafter, Bud Light lost its title as best-selling U.S. beer brand to Constellation Brands’ Modelo Especial. Sales of Bud Light have yet to recover, although AB InBev’s overall revenue in 2023 was up 7.8%.

AB InBev ADRs were down 5.9% at $60.75 at around 1:40 p.m. ET Thursday, March 14, while Altria shares were up 1.6% at $44.03.

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