HENRICO COUNTY (dpa-AFX) - Altria Group Inc. (MO) announces the expiration of its cash tender offer for any and all of its senior unsecured 9.95% Notes due 2038 and any and all of its senior unsecured 10.20% Notes due 2039. The terms and conditions of the tender offer are described in the Offer to Purchase, dated September 13, 2016 and the related Letter of Transmittal and Notice of Guaranteed Delivery.
The tender offer for the Notes expired at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on Monday, September 19, 2016.
According to information provided by Global Bondholder Services Corporation, the Depositary and Information Agent for the tender offer, $441.08 million aggregate principal amount of the 2038 Notes and $492.96 million aggregate principal amount of the 2039 Notes were validly tendered at or prior to the Expiration Time and not validly withdrawn, which amounts include $1,187,000 aggregate principal amount of the outstanding 2038 Notes that remain subject to guaranteed delivery procedures and $1.165 million aggregate principal amount of the outstanding 2039 Notes that remain subject to guaranteed delivery procedure.
Altria expects the payment for the purchased Notes, including Notes delivered in accordance with guaranteed delivery procedures, to be made on September 22, 2016.
Based on the Total Consideration and the amount of Notes validly tendered and expected to be accepted for purchase, Altria will record a one-time, pre-tax charge against reported earnings in the third quarter of 2016 of about $825 million, or $0.28 per share, reflecting the loss on early extinguishment of debt related to the tender offer.
Altria reaffirmed its guidance for 2016 full-year adjusted earnings per share , which excludes the Charge and the special items for the first half of 2016 to be in the range of $3.01 to $3.07, representing a growth rate of 7.5% to 9.5% from an adjusted EPS base of $2.80 in 2015. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report earnings of $3.07 per share for fiscal year 2016. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
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