Lorillard to be acquired by Reynolds American for $68.88/shr in cash and stock; total deal valued at $27.4B; Reynolds to Sell Five Brands to Imperial Tobacco for $7.1B in cash
Reynolds American and Lorillard have entered into a definitive agreement in which RAI has agreed to acquire Lorillard in a cash-and-stock transaction currently valued at $68.88 per Lorillard share, or a total of $27.4 billion, including the assumption of net debt. Under the terms of the transaction, which has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies, Lorillard shareholders will receive, for each Lorillard share, $50.50 in cash and 0.2909 of a share in RAI stock at closing, representing $68.88 per share based on RAI's closing share price yesterday. That represents a premium of 40.4% to the stock price on February 28th, the last trading day prior to initial media speculation around a possible transaction, and a premium of 12.6% to the stock price on July 2nd, prior to more recent news reports.
Following the transaction, RAI is projected to have over $11 billion in revenues and approximately $5 billion in operating income, and its operating companies will have growth pillars across key industry categories: Newport, Camel, Pall Mall and Natural American Spirit in combustible cigarettes; Grizzly in smokeless tobacco; and VUSE in the growing e-cigarette market.
RAI also announced today that it has reached an agreement with Imperial under which Imperial has agreed to purchase the KOOL, Salem, Winston, Maverick and blu eCigs brands and other assets and liabilities for a total consideration of $7.1 billion in cash. RAI expects to receive net cash proceeds of approximately $4.4 billion after taxes. The addition of these brands to Imperial's U.S. operations will more than triple its share of the U.S. cigarette market, position it for long-term success in traditional tobacco products and the growing e-cigarette category, and elevate it to the status of a major U.S. competitor for the first time. As part of the divestiture, Imperial will acquire certain assets owned by Lorillard including its manufacturing and R&D facilities in Greensboro, N.C., and approximately 2,900 employees, including a national sales force. The closing of the sale of these assets to Imperial is conditioned upon, among other things, RAI's completion of the acquisition of Lorillard.
BAT, RAI's largest shareholder, has reiterated its strong confidence in the prospects of RAI and is fully supportive of, and has agreed to vote its shares in favor of, the transaction. As part of the transaction, BAT will maintain its 42 percent ownership in RAI through an investment of approximately $4.7 billion (based on RAI's closing share price of $60.16 as of July 2, 2014, the same share price used to determine the stock component of Lorillard shareholders' consideration). In addition, RAI and BAT have agreed in principle to pursue an ongoing technology-sharing initiative for the development and commercialization of next-generation tobacco products, including heat-not-burn cigarettes and vapor products.
RAI expects the transaction to be accretive to earnings in the first full year, with strong double-digit accretion in the second year and beyond (on a percentage basis). RAI plans to maintain its current dividend policy until the transaction closes and is committed to a strong dividend policy thereafter, targeting a dividend payout ratio of 75 percent going forward. Lorillard will continue its existing dividend policy until the deal closes. RAI will generate significant cash flows and expects to maintain its investment grade credit rating following the transaction. RAI has secured fully-committed bridge financing and expects to issue permanent financing for the transaction.