Item 7.01. |
Regulation FD Disclosure.
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On October 19, 2022, Altria Group, Inc. (“Altria”) issued a
press release, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit 99.1 and
incorporated by reference in this Current Report on Form
8-K, announcing that a
subsidiary of Altria had entered into an agreement with a
subsidiary of Philip Morris International Inc. (“PMI”) under which
Altria will assign exclusive U.S. commercialization rights to the
IQOS Tobacco Heating
System® (“IQOS System”) effective April 30,
2024 in exchange for certain consideration.
In accordance with General Instruction B.2 of Form 8-K, the information in this Item 7.01,
including Exhibit 99.1, shall not be deemed “filed” for the
purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
as amended, or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that
section. The information in this Item 7.01 shall not be
incorporated by reference into any filing or other document
pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, except as shall
be expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing or
document.
On October 19, 2022 (the “Effective Date”), Altria Client
Services LLC (“ALCS”), a subsidiary of Altria, and Altria (solely
with respect to certain provisions thereunder), entered into a
purchase agreement (the “Purchase Agreement) with Triaga Inc.
(“Triaga”), a subsidiary of PMI, and PMI (solely with respect to
certain provisions thereunder) to, among other things, transition
and ultimately conclude the relationship between Altria and PMI
with respect to the IQOS
System in the U.S. Under the terms of the Purchase Agreement,
(i) ALCS received a payment from Triaga of $1.0 billion
upon entry into the Purchase Agreement, (ii) Triaga is
obligated to make an additional payment of $1.7 billion (plus
interest thereon from the Effective Date at a per annum rate equal
to 6%) to ALCS by July 15, 2023, for a total cash payment of
approximately $2.7 billion, and (iii) ALCS agreed to
assign to Triaga exclusive U.S. commercialization rights to the
IQOS System effective
April 30, 2024.
The foregoing description of the Purchase Agreement does not
purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by
reference to the text of the Purchase Agreement, which is attached
as Exhibit 99.2 and incorporated by reference in this Current
Report on Form 8-K.
This Current Report on Form 8-K contains certain forward-looking
statements with respect to the Purchase Agreement with PMI, which
are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Such forward
looking statements relate to, among other things, Altria’s receipt
of future cash payments. Factors that may cause actual results to
differ include risks relating to Altria’s ability to realize the
expected benefits of the transaction in the expected manner or
timeframe, if at all, and the outcome of any legal proceedings or
investigations that may be instituted against the parties or others
related to the transaction. Other risk factors are detailed from
time to time in Altria’s quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and most recent Annual Report on
Form 10-K filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date of this Current Report on Form
8-K. Altria assumes no
obligation to provide any revisions to, or update, any projections
and forward-looking statements contained in this Current Report on
Form 8-K.
(d) Exhibits
Item 9.01. |
Financial Statements and Exhibits.
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99.1 |
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Altria
Group, Inc. Press Release, dated October 19, 2022 (furnished
under Item 7.01) |
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99.2 |
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Purchase Agreement, dated October 19,
2022, by and among Triaga Inc., Altria Client Services LLC, and
solely for the purposes of Article 4 thereof, Philip Morris
International Inc. and Altria Group, Inc.* |
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104 |
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The cover page from this Current
Report on Form 8-K,
formatted in Inline XBRL (included as Exhibit 101) |
* |
Certain portions of this exhibit have been omitted.
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